--- description: Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Baghdad on Wednesday to drum up support for the battle against the brutal extremists terrorizing Iraq and to... title: Kerry Swoops Into Iraq to Spur Action on ISIS image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt844074747cea42f6/6986a29fe53aba8a574d4548/john-kerry-iraq.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Foreign Policy](/tag/foreign-policy/) ## Foreign Policy Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Kerry Swoops Into Iraq to Spur Action on ISIS by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 10, 2014 11:10 AM CUT  US Secretary of State John Kerry looks out over Baghdad from a helicopter on Sept. 10, 2014. US Secretary of State John Kerry looks out over Baghdad from a helicopter on Sept. 10, 2014.Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images by [NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 10, 2014 11:10 AM CUT Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Baghdad on Wednesday to drum up support for the battle against the brutal extremists terrorizing Iraq and to meet with the country’s newly elected prime minister. The visit is part of Washington’s efforts to snuff out the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria, known as ISIS, which has threatened to tear Iraq apart. In the first major meeting with Iraq’s Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi, Kerry will urge the premier to take rapid steps to ease sectarian tensions between Iraq’s Sunni Muslims and its Shiite majority. Upon arrival in Baghdad, Kerry tweeted that “inclusive government is a big step” for Iraq… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News](http://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/iraq-turmoil/secretary-state-john-kerry-arrives-baghdad-meet-iraqs-new-leader-n199791?cid=par-time-article%5F20140910 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3318141/kerry-iraq-isis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3318141/kerry-iraq-isis/"},"headline":"Kerry Swoops Into Iraq to Spur Action on ISIS","datePublished":"2014-09-10T11:10:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T10:06:04.891Z","description":"Secretary of State John Kerry landed in Baghdad on Wednesday to drum up support for the battle against the brutal extremists terrorizing Iraq and to...","url":"https://time.com/3318141/kerry-iraq-isis/","keywords":["Foreign Policy"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt844074747cea42f6/6986a29fe53aba8a574d4548/john-kerry-iraq.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"NBC News","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nbc-news/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt844074747cea42f6/6986a29fe53aba8a574d4548/john-kerry-iraq.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Kerry Iraq","caption":"John Kerry Iraq","creditText":"Brendan Smialowski—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/foreign-policy/","name":"Foreign Policy"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3318141/kerry-iraq-isis/","name":"Kerry Swoops Into Iraq to Spur Action on ISIS"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS","description":"A growing number of foreigners is joining the Islamic militant group - but why?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xvTQSd5R/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-05T19:18:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xvTQSd5R.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3318141/kerry-iraq-isis/","duration":"PT2M58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3318141/kerry-iraq-isis/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```