Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday coalition airstrikes have not flushed the terror group ISIS from Iraq , but they may have prevented the fall of Baghdad and Irbil to ISIS militants . `` What we 've done is we 've stopped the onslaught . That was what we were able to achieve with air power . They were moving towards Irbil . They were moving towards Baghdad . Baghdad could well have fallen . Irbil could have fallen , '' Kerry said In an exclusive interview with CNN 's Christiane Amanpour . The United States and coalition members conducted a second day of airstrikes Tuesday night in Syria and Iraq since the expanded military campaign against the extreme terror group began . But it will take time for airstrikes to degrade ISIS , Kerry said , echoing previous comments by President Barack Obama . `` There 's a definitely a second day and there will be a third and more . This is going to go on , '' he added . Kerry insisted , however , that airstrikes are n't designed to defeat ISIS by themselves . `` You and others should not be looking for some massive retreat in the next week or two , '' he told Amanpour . More airstrikes against ISIS . Comprehensive effort against ISIS . The campaign will be lengthy , Kerry said , partly because the Iraqi military needs to be reconstituted , and because it will take time to arrange the kind of local support similar to the Sunni Awakening years ago . The secretary of state said the battle to stop ISIS is a multifaceted effort that includes foreign fighters , cutting off financing , and a major effort to `` reclaim Islam by Muslims . '' ISIS is a threat to the people in the region , he said , but also to national sovereignty . Kerry and Obama are in New York for the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly , where Obama will appeal to the global community to get behind the U.S.-led effort . `` I 'm absolutely convinced that the coalition is on board , '' Kerry said , referring to five Arab nations that the United States considers partners in the military campaign . In a letter to the U.N. secretary-general , the United States defended its actions , invoking Article 51 of the U.N. Charter -- acting when a country is unwilling or unable to handle a threat itself . Does hurting ISIS help al-Assad ? `` The Syrian regime has shown that it can not and will not confront these safe havens effectively itself , '' Samantha Power , the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. , wrote in a letter obtained by CNN . `` Accordingly , the United States has initiated necessary and proportionate military actions in Syria . '' Share your view on the airstrikes . Other targets . The first wave of airstrikes mostly targeted the Khorasan Group , which Obama described as `` seasoned al Qaeda operatives in Syria . '' Asked whether the leader of the Khorasan Group was killed in an airstrike , Kerry said he `` ca n't personally confirm that . '' He did confirm , however , that `` there were active plots '' against the United States , but he gave no details . Kerry also defended the fact that the Obama administration has not previously talked about the Khorasan Group at length , saying the administration `` did n't want them to know '' that the United States was tracking them so closely . And the secretary of state softened previous declarations from the President that no U.S. troops would become engaged in a ground war , a statement that many in Congress and even some military advisers say is unrealistic . `` There 's lots of people on the ground already in different forms , '' Kerry said , pointing to intelligence agents and U.S. aligned foreign fighters . What 's the difference between ISIS , al Nusra and Khorasan Group ?
Kerry : Airstrikes may have prevented fall of New York . Secretary of State John Kerry echoes the President , saying defeating the United Nations General Assembly will take time . Kerry could not confirm that a leader in the Khorasan Group was killed . John Kerry and Obama are in New York for ISIS meeting .