Terrorism Alert Desk: Latest on US Fight of ISIS

The US and its coalition partners are hitting ISIS “harder than ever”, President Barack Obama said Monday.

In Iraq and Syria, an intensified military strategy is key, Obama said, because “as we squeeze its heart”, it is harder for Islamic State to “pump its terror and propaganda to the rest of the world”. “Coalition aircraft – our fighters, bombers and drones – have been increasing the pace of their strikes, almost 9,000 as of today”, the president said.

“All that said, we recognize that progress needs to happen faster”, he admitted, explaining there was a particular problem in going after the militants in urban areas, where they are entrenched and often use civilians as use human shields.

With no major new successes to tout, Obama was forced to recount numerous same victories he listed in July, when he said USA allies had taken Kobani in Syria and the cities of Tikrit and Sinjar in Iraq.

“Terrorists like ISIL are trying to divide us along lines of religion and background”, Obama said in his weekly address.

“Just as the United States is doing more in this fight, just as our allies – France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Australia, and Italy – are doing more, so must others”, Obama said.

President Obama’s job approval has sunk to its lowest level in more than a year in a new poll as terrorism and national security emerge as top concerns for Americans.

The “big three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC all prominently touted on Monday night President Barack Obama’s visit to the Pentagon to discuss the fight against ISIS, but skimped on reporting any criticism of the administration’s strategy but instead lamenting that he’s had to try once “again to reassure an anxious nation” despite polls showing Americans are concerned about the growing threat of terrorism.

Obama has tried to use his bully pulpit as a counterpoint to Trump and his widely condemned proposal to bar Muslims from entering the U.S. The White House scheduled a conference call Monday with religious leaders about ways to fight discrimination and promote religious tolerance.

“Just as the U.S. is doing more in this fight”.

Obama also reported for the first time that Special Operations forces ordered into the region in late October were now active in Syria.

Seventy-four percent of respondents said they think it is likely the USA will deploy ground troops, including 43 percent who said it was “moderately likely” and 31 percent who said it was “extremely/very likely”.

The coalition was also targeting Islamic State’s oil tanker trucks, wells and refineries.

The U.S. and its partners have been enjoying some gains on the ground, including retaking Sinjar Mountain in Iraq and beginning to advance on Ramadi, held by ISIS since the spring.

“We betray the efforts of the past if we fail to push back against bigotry in all its forms”, the President said at event marking 150 years since the abolition of slavery.

He vowed Monday to accelerate the U.S.-led military campaign in both Syria and Iraq, and revealed that a group of American special operations commandos has begun working with local fighters in Syria to “tighten the squeeze” on Raqqa, the extremists’ nominal capital. Obama’s aides were also holding separate meetings at the White House with Muslim leaders and with Sikh leaders.

Meanwhile, the US will continue to work to further build up worldwide contributions to the coalition’s effort to defeat Islamic State.

Carter’s trip comes with US Secretary of State John Kerry due Tuesday in Moscow for talks with the Russian government to further the diplomatic process that has spawned plans for a meeting next month between the Syrian government and more moderate rebels. “And the longer ISIS continues to exist in the face of opposition, the more they can recruit, radicalize, and grow”, McCarthy’s office said.