WASHINGTON, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- One month after launching airstrikes against the Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq, U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday vowed that he "will not hesitate to take action" against IS in Syria, as well as in Iraq.
"Last month, I ordered our military to take targeted action against ISIL to stop its advances. Since then, we have conducted more than 150 successful airstrikes in Iraq," said Obama in a prime time address about U.S. strategy on IS, which is also called ISIL by the White House.
"These strikes have protected American personnel and facilities, killed ISIL fighters, destroyed weapons, and given space for Iraqi and Kurdish forces to reclaim key territory," said Obama.
The United States will do with its friends and allies to degrade and ultimately destroy IS forces, which poses a threat to the people of Iraq and Syria, and the broader Middle East, including American citizens, personnel and facilities, said the president.
He noted that the United States will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat and use airpower to take out IS forces "wherever they exist."
"Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy," he said.
"This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years," he said.
"Across the border, in Syria, we have ramped up our military assistance to the Syrian opposition," the president said, calling on Congress to give additional authorities and resources to train and equip the fighters.
"In the fight against ISIL, we cannot rely on an Assad regime that terrorizes its people, a regime that will never regain the legitimacy it has lost," Obama noted.
"Instead, we must strengthen the opposition as the best counterweight to extremists like ISIL, while pursuing the political solution necessary to solve Syria's crisis once and for all," he added.
According to the president, the strategy will also enforce U.S. support to forces fighting against IS terrorists on the ground. "We will send an additional 475 service members to Iraq," he said.
"But I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil," he said.
"As I have said before, these American forces will not have a combat mission. We will not get dragged into another ground war in Iraq. But they are needed to support Iraqi and Kurdish forces with training, intelligence and equipment," Obama said.
In addition, U.S. will continue to draw on substantial counter-terrorism capabilities to prevent IS attacks.
"Working with our partners, we will redouble our efforts to cut off its funding, improve our intelligence, strengthen our defenses, counter its warped ideology, and stem the flow of foreign fighters into and out of the Middle East," Obama said.
U.S. Defense Department released a statement late Wednesday night after Obama's address hailing his strategy on IS.
"We are already well underway in the effort to assemble the coalition to get the job done. We are uniting the world against a unified threat, and the President's strategy will succeed because doing it with allies and partners isn't just smart, it's strong," DOD spokesman John Kirby said in the statement.
"We do so knowing both that American leadership is indispensable and that we cannot destroy this group on our own. Defeating this common enemy calls for a common cause, and we're taking it on to succeed together," he said.
Meanwhile, Darrell West, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said that Obama will get legislative support for his IS plan.
"Public outrage over this terrorism will unite Democrats and Republicans. Few legislators can afford to play politics with such a dangerous organization," he said.
Obama deserves credit for getting tough on IS, he said, adding that Obama's vow to pursue them wherever they raise problems will be well received by the American public.
The IS announced the establishment of a caliphate in late June in areas under its control in both Syria and Iraq, and has beheaded two American journalists.
U.S. warplanes have been bombing its targets in northern Iraq since Aug. 8, and Obama approved surveillance flights over Syria in late August.
JERUSALEM, Sept. 10 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a special meeting on Wednesday to discuss ways of handling the threat posed by the Islamic State (IS) on Israel, an Israeli official said.Full story
WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama told top lawmakers Tuesday that he has the authority he needs to take action against Islamic State (IS) militants.Full story
PARIS, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian on Tuesday said dispatching French forces on the ground to fight Islamic State fighters in Iraq was possible as part of the international community efforts to curb terrorism in the region.
Asked by the local broadcaster Europe 1 if Paris intended to send ground troops in the conflict-torn Arab country, Le Drian said: "We'll not state how we are acting; we'll see when it will happen."Full story
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