Sydney: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Tuesday there was no global support for a US-led ground force to destroy the Islamic State group, which he called fundamentally weak with "more Twitter accounts than fighters".
Calls have been mounting in Canberra for boots on the ground in Syria to combat the threat from Islamic State jihadists and other militant groups in the wake of deadly attacks in Paris this month.
But after attending a series of recent global summits, Turnbull said in a national security address to parliament that there was no appetite for such a move.
"I have to report to the House that the consensus of the leaders I met at the G20, at APEC and at the East Asia Summit is that there is no support currently for a large US-led Western army to attempt to conquer and hold ISIL-controlled areas," he said, referring to another term for the Islamic State group.
Australia has for months been active in Iraq, and recently started carrying out air strikes against IS targets in Syria as part of a 60-nation, US-led coalition against the jihadists.
Turnbull said the group was "in a fundamentally weak position", despite territorial gains made by Islamic State extremists in Syria and Iraq.
"We must not be fooled by its hype. Its ideology is archaic, but its use of the Internet is very modern. ISIL has many more smartphones than guns, more Twitter accounts than fighters," he said.
"It does not command broad-based legitimacy even in those areas under its direct control. It is encircled by hostile forces. It is under military pressure."
He said the coalition would continue working to disrupt, degrade and ultimately defeat the jihadists using military, financial, diplomatic and political means.
AFP
