Obama says U.S. is not underestimating Islamic State group

He said, essentially, that he had considered all options and decided that even a large-scale terrorist attack in the heart of a European capital was not enough to make him reconsider his policy.

“We want to work with other countries and have a discussion about how can we increase the flow of support, equipment to those Syrian forces who are fighting against ISIL [Islamic State] on the ground”, Rhodes stated.

He said Isis “can’t beat us on the battlefield so they try to terrorize us into being afraid”, and declared: “We will destroy this terrorist organization”.

That starts, he said, with leaders who are scheduled to attend climate talks later this month in Paris, where 130 people were killed in a single night of blood-soaked violence.

His latest plan to close the military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba – a goal he’s had since his second day in the White House – was supposed to come out last week.

Obama said it “would be helpful” if Russian Federation directed its focus on tackling Islamic State and he hoped Moscow would agree to a leadership transition in Syria that meant its president stepping down.

A few observers – especially those now promoting fear of Syrian refugees – might think this was a prescient warning, but what Assad’s tweet actually expressed was the consistency with which he has stayed on message in his contrived “war on terrorism” and the fact that the flow of refugees would undermine the future of Syria.

“If you have a handful of people who don’t mind dying, they can kill a lot of people”, Obama said, stating the tragically obvious. The two met last week during an economic summit in Turkey.

Unless Obama is prepared to face a rupture in the USA alliance with the Sunni Gulf Sheikdoms over the issue, the result will be that the very groups committed to overthrowing the remnants of the old order by force will be invited by the United States and its Gulf allies to take key positions in the post-Assad government.

The president spoke in Malaysia shortly before departing for Washington. French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said the West would “annihilate Islamic State worldwide”. And it goes on to argue the USA should keep troops in Afghanistan beyond 2016 because, “There is a strong possibility Afghanistan could host a reinvigorated Taliban allied to a reinvigorated al Qaeda – not to mention ISIS, which is also gaining a foothold in the region”.

“He’s not a mastermind”, Obama said.

The president has since softened his tone. As a result, the U.S.is cooperating with Russian Federation and Iran, countries it once tried to ostracize due to their support for Assad.

“The American people are right to be concerned”, Obama said Sunday. He urged Americans against “succumbing to the fear that allows us to abandon our values, to abandon how we live”.

Driving the debate about accepting Syrian refugees in the US, as in Europe, are concerns that terrorists could exploit the system to enter the country and carry out more attacks. “We’re a nation that can’t be cowed by evil-doers”.

US President Barack Obama has called Isis “a bunch of killers with good social media”. As the NY Times reported in September, “Now those departing include more middle-class or wealthy people, more supporters of the government, and more residents of areas that were initially safe”.