While most of the international focus this week is on the Geneva Conference aiming to send the Syrian Civil War, a separate conference is getting underway in Rome,and likely will be far more impactful, as a number of Western nations discuss the escalation of the war against ISIS.
While the focus was initially supposed to be on helping Iraq and to a less extent Syria reclaim territory from ISIS, the US is now saying a prominent focus of the talks will be the possibility of expanding the war into Libya, something the US and France are pushing heavily for.
Britain is likely to be on board for that push as well, with reports they are planning to send up to 1,000 ground troops to Libya, though the Cameron government is reluctant to broach the issue to parliament after the battle over expanding their own ISIS war into Syria, which involved overt lying over the number of “moderate” rebels involved.
ISIS controls parts of Libya’s central coast, centering on Sirte. The US has expressed eagerness to back “worthy” partners in the war, but the signs are that there aren’t exactly a lot of factions lining up to work with the US on the war.