WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Joseph Dunford has attended the NATO Military Committee meeting in Brussels and said the coalition against Daesh would benefit from the alliance’s official membership.
"Having NATO as a member of the defeat-ISIS [Daesh] coalition puts them at the table when we have discussions and opens up information and intelligence sharing," Dunford said as quoted by the Defense Department News.
At present, NATO has a small number of troops in Iraq assisting local forces with capacity and capability building.
Dunford claimed NATO needs to decide about what is the best way to provide additional support.
"I think what we will see is NATO will continue with a fairly modest contribution in the near term and political leadership in the coming months will discuss the potential of NATO assuming some greater responsibility in Iraq," he said.
The US-led coalition of 68 nations is conducting airstrikes, ground-based and rocket-propelled artillery fire against Daesh in Syria and Iraq.
