Afghanistan: Kerry, in Saudi visit, wins expanded Arab support for fight against Islamic State --- JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — U.S. and Arab diplomats agreed Thursday to boost military and financial efforts against Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, as President Obama’s call to arms against the extremists received mixed reviews in the Middle East and elsewhere. -- Secretary of State John F. Kerry and diplomats from across the Middle East coordinated strategies to blunt the militants’ swift march in Iraq and Syria. The Islamic State has proclaimed a caliphate on a third of Syrian and Iraqi territory, functionally erasing the border between the countries in some places. -- Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab states agreed to expand military help, including opening more bases for airstrike launches and holding training programs for Syrian rebels fighting the Islamists, diplomats said Thursday. The specifics of the effort, however, were not announced. -- “This is a moment which is one of those rare opportunities in history, where leaders making the right choices can actually bend the arc of history in the right direction,” Kerry said after a day of talks with officials from Persian Gulf nations including Iraq, along with Egyptian, Jordanian and Lebanese diplomats. -- “We believe that we’re all up to this task, and we believe that this is what our citizens are asking of us,” Kerry said. “We believe that we will beat back the evil of ISIL,” he said, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State, which grew out of an al-Qaeda affiliate and has pursued an even more radical agenda. -- A statement issued by the participating nations said they agreed to “do their share in the comprehensive fight against ISIL.” The effort would include, “as appropriate, joining in the many aspects of a coordinated military campaign against ISIL.”