LORI HINNANT
Associated Press

PARIS (AP) — Reconnaissance planes at the ready, France called together diplomats to come up with a coherent global strategy Monday to combat extremists from the Islamic State group, minus the two countries who share most of Iraq’s borders.

With memories of the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq still fresh, the U.S. has so far been alone in carrying out airstrikes and no country has offered ground troops. But French reconnaissance jets were prepared to take off Monday, a French official said.

An American official said several Arab countries had offered to conduct airstrikes. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive issues.

French President Francois Hollande says: “The terrorist threat is global and the response must be global,”

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