President Obama Gives Update on Military Mission Against ISIS

At the outset of his statement, Obama sought to temper any extraordinarily positive expectations by reminding Americans, again, that the effort to defeat the Islamic State “will not be quick”, and military forces are still staring down a “long-term campaign”. “Obviously, it doesn’t gain anything for the USA to go in and clear cities on their own if Iraqi forces can’t hold these areas”, he says.

In Syria, meanwhile, the US military has stepped up its airstrikes. Last month, President Obama and his top defense officials presented mixed messages about their approach.

Defense Secretary Ash Carter and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey will defend that strategy on Capitol Hill on Tuesday in a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Barack Obama has said the USA needs to do more to combat the threat of Islamic State and has insisted the military campaign will take time to complete.

It is a point that Obama emphasized, as well: “When we have an effective partner on the ground, ISIL can be pushed back”.

“In many places in Syria and Iraq, it’s dug in among an innocent civilian population”.

“If we try to do everything ourselves all across the Middle East, all across North Africa, we’ll be playing whack-a-mole”, Obama said. “And doing so must be the job of local forces on the ground with training and air support from our coalition”.

The president used the occasion Monday to take a dig at Congress for not confirming Adam Szubin, nominated to be the Treasury Department’s undersecretary for terrorism and financial crimes, considered a key post in the effort to target Islamic State’s finances.

Over the weekend, the USA stepped up the airstrikes against the extremist group, attacking dozens of Islamic State positions in Syria and Iraq.

Mr. McCain told Mr. Hewitt that having Islamic clerics condemn the actions of the Sunni radical terror group “would be good”, but securing victories on the battlefield is what is most important at the moment.

The United States also has struggled to find moderate Syrian rebels to train.

Although the president said there were “no current plans” to send more US troops to Iraq, he did not rule out that possibility in the future.

Numerous individuals have been arrested across the country for plotting attacks inspired by Isis or attempting to join the group in Syria or Iraq, he added, while still pointing out that improvements to homeland security have successfully prevented another large-scale 9/11-style event. “Our efforts to counter violent extremism must not target any one community because of their faith or background, including patriotic Muslim Americans who are partners in keeping our country safe”. Despite Baghdad’s promises that its forces would recapture Ramadi swiftly, Shia militia that are far more powerful than the government forces they operate alongside said last month that an attack on Fallujah was the priority.