Obama: Dismantling Islamic State Leadership Remains Focus of US Strategy

“The special forces that I ordered to Syria have begun supporting the local forces they pushed south, cut off supply lines, and tightened the squeeze on Raqqa”, Obama said, referencing the capital of the caliphate.

U.S. officials have said there are no specific, credible threats to the U.S. But the apparent lack of warning before a December 2 attack in San Bernardino, Calif., has led to criticism of the U.S. effort to combat the Islamic State and prevent the spread of terrorism.

Obama said: “In recent weeks, we’ve unleashed a new wave of strikes on their lifeline, on their oil infrastructure, destroying hundreds of their tanker trucks, wells and refineries”.

US Defence Secretary Ash Carter Carter was leaving immediately after the meeting to visit allies in the Middle East in hopes of drumming up more “military contributions” against Islamic State forces, Obama said, without specifying Carter’s destinations.

Speaking with top military leaders at his side, including Gen. Lloyd Austin, the Central Command chief who is spearheading the counter-IS campaign, Obama cited a range of evidence that ISIS is weakening, including what he called instances of its fighters defecting and its territory shrinking.

“Our coalition has now hit ISIL with more than 5,000 airstrikes”.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s office (R-Calif.) said in a statement that the real question of Obama’s Pentagon visit is if anything will really change as a result. Seven in 10 Americans rated the risk of a terrorist attack in the U.S. as at least somewhat high, according to an Associated Press-GfK poll.

“Our strategy is moving forward with a great sense of urgency”, coupled with “persistent diplomacy to end the Syrian civil war so everyone can focus on ISIL”, the president said, using another acronym for the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.

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.

The White House said Obama would deliver keynote remarks at the naturalization event held at the National Archives, where 31 candidates from 25 different countries will take the “Oath of Allegiance” to the United States. But today, for the second time in just over a week, President Obama argued that his strategy against ISIS is working.

Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, has himself conducted surveys showing some support for US ground troops.

The poll shows that Americans are overwhelmingly behind airstrikes against the group in Syria and Iraq, and an increasing number support sending ground troops to the region. He said some who previously pledged allegiance to the group were defecting.

Just 28 percent in the survey said Obama had clearly explained the United States’ goals in fighting the Islamic State, while 68 percent said he had not.