John Kerry visits Baghdad

US Secretary of State John Kerry made an unannounced visit to Baghdad on Wednesday, the second stop in a Middle Eastern tour to drum up financial, political, and military support for taking on the self-proclaimed "Islamic State" (IS) extremist group.

The purpose of Kerry's visit was to "discuss how the United States can increase its support to Iraq's new government in our common effort to defeat ISIL and the threat that it poses to Iraq, the region, and the world," said State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, using an alternative name for the group.

This is the first high-level US visit since recently sworn-in Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi replaced the embattled Nouri al-Maliki. Both al-Abadi and al-Maliki are Shiite, and many point to al-Maliki's insistence on shutting Sunnis out of the government as having not only bread resentment across the country, also handing "IS" a convenient recruitment tool. For years, al-Maliki ignored tribal militias and refused to pay them or give them government positions.

Creating a more inclusive government

As well as a display of solidarity with a country that has become increasingly unstable in recent months, Kerry's visit also served to pressure al-Abadi into creating an inclusive multi-ethic government. Al-Abadi has promised to give Sunnis more control over local security forces and power structures, such as creating a national guard of local fighters in each of Iraq's 18 provinces. This would mean that Iraq's mostly Shiite military would not be in control of security in largely Sunni areas.

The United States has already carried out about 150 airstrikes on IS targets after the jihadist group swept unexpectedly through large swaths of the Iraq-Syria border regions. Further measures are expected, however. Kerry's next stop is Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, where he will attend meetings with Arab leaders on how these nations can add to the growing coalition against the Islamic State.

Stopping the stream of foreign money

Another important factor is stemming the flow of foreign funds and recruits to IS' ranks, as an estimated 12,000 foreigners have already joined the fighting in Syria, although it is unknown how many have joined IS and how many belong to other rebel groups.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to give a televised speech later on Wednesday on the United States' future commitments in the region. UN officials hope to have a strategic blueprint drawn up by the time the UN General Assembly meets at the end of the month.

es/msh (AP, AFP, Reuters)