Obama says Islamic State military losses will hurt recruiting
ASSOCIATED PRESS
President Barack Obama answers a question during a news conference after attending a National Security Council Meeting on efforts to counter the Islamic State today at the Pentagon in Washington.
President Barack Obama said Islamic State continues to lose territory in the Middle East, and that the terrorist group’s strongholds must be retaken in order to reduce the appeal of its propaganda.
“So long as they have those bases they can use their propaganda to suggest that somehow there’s still some caliphate,” Obama said in a news conference at the Pentagon on Thursday after meeting with his national security advisers. “That can insinuate itself into the minds of folks who may be willing to travel there or carry out terrorist attacks.”
The U.S. began a campaign of airstrikes in Libya this week, targeting Islamic State militants who have established a stronghold in the city of Sirte. Obama said earlier this week that the U.S. and its allies didn’t adequately attend to Libya after a 2011 military intervention that toppled the government there, leaving room for extremists to take hold.
Islamic State fighters have streamed into Libya this year, as the group has lost territory in Iraq and Syria. The civil war in Syria, now in its sixth year, has killed more than 280,000 and displaced millions.
The U.S. is attempting to work with Russia in Syria to fight terrorism and address the humanitarian crisis stemming from the conflict. Neither the U.S. nor Russia have publicly stated what steps they will take to coordinate efforts in the conflict, which has driven a refugee crisis that has further destabilized the Middle East and generated a flood of migrants into Europe.
Obama criticized Russian efforts so far, saying that President Vladimir Putin’s military activities in Syria have “raised very serious questions about its commitment to bring the situation back from the brink.”
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“Russia has failed to take the necessary steps. It is time for Russia to show it is serious” about ending the civil war, Obama said.
A cease-fire backed by the U.S. and Russia earlier this year has been marred by continuing violence carried out by the Syrian regime and opposition fighters. Airstrikes by a U.S.-led coalition targeting Islamic State killed dozens of civilians in northern Syria last month, according to the U.K.-based monitoring group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. The U.S. is investigating those reports, Defense Secretary Ash Carter has said.
Prospects for a political solution in Syria, which Obama has said is the only option for resolving the conflict, have worsened amid increasing violence. While Putin has publicly supported a political transition in Syria, Russia continues to provide military support to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, propping up his regime against U.S. backed-rebels.
Dozens of State Department diplomats signed a dissent memo in June objecting to Obama’s strategy in Syria and calling for more forceful U.S. action against Assad.
The White House has said its military engagement in Syria is focused on defeating Islamic State extremists, not attacking the Syrian government even though the American position is that Assad must step down.
Yet refugees continue to flee their homes, and the violence and humanitarian crises in Iraq and Syria is creating new challenges for Europe, including several large terrorist attacks by Muslim immigrants.
“What ISIL has figured out is if they can convince a handful of people or even one person to carry out an attack on a subway, or a parade, or some other public venue, and kill scores of people, instead of thousands of people, it still creates the kind of fear and concern that elevates their profile,” Obama said, using an acronym for the group.
Rooting out small networks of terrorists or lone attackers in some ways “is tougher” than disrupting larger organizations, Obama said. “Those networks will probably sustain themselves even after ISIS is defeated in Raqqa and Mosul,” he said, using another acronym for the group. The cities of Raqqa and Mosul are the group’s strongholds in Syria and Iraq.
23 responses to “Obama says Islamic State military losses will hurt recruiting”
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BS O.
HOW THE HELL DO WE OWE IRAN MONEY? WHAT DID WE GET FROM THEM?
These were funds that the Shah of Iran’s government advanced to the United States for military equipment. When the Iranian Revolution took place there was no way the US was going to send the military equipment over to Iran so the money was dropped into an escrow account. The balance between the 1.7 billion and the $400 million is interest over all those years. So its not a payment as much as a reimbursement that was owed.
I don’t know how you can stand it. Relentless ignorance.
MR. EARNEST:
The facts in this case are I guess two relevant ones, and then we can pursue others that you feel like we need to discuss.
The first is, this $400 million is actually money that the Iranians had paid into a U.S. account in 1979 as part of a transaction to procure military equipment. That military equipment, as it relates to this $400 million, was not provided to the Iranians in 1979 because the Shah of Iran was overthrown. So that was the right decision. It’s also why it was hard for the United States to make an argument in this case that we could just keep the money. So what the United States did was resolve a longstanding claim at The Hague that saved the American people potentially billions of dollars.
I would have told the new Iran government tough poop.
Klastri, are you still in Paris? How was the Le Manure? Did you have dinner at Allain Ducasse?
Klastri,
One more,
Bill says: “Hillary could have written her own job ticket, but she turned down all the lucrative job offers.”
The facts are: She flunked the DC bar exam; yes, flunked. It is a matter of record, and only passed the Arkansas bar. She had no job offers in Arkansas – none – and only got hired by the University of Arkansas Law School at Fayetteville because Bill was already teaching there. She did not join the prestigious Rose Law Firm until Bill became Arkansas Attorney General and was made a partner only after he was elected Arkansas Governor.
This is the same reason that Al Queda finds it hard to fill their # 2 position. People promoted into that job tend to get hit with missiles before picking up their first paycheck. That kind of thing definitely hurts recruitment.
Bill says: “Hillary spent a year after graduation working on a children’s rights project for poor kids.”
The facts are: Hillary interned with Bob Truehaft, the head of the California Communist Party. She met Bob when he represented the Panthers and traveled all the way to San Francisco to take an internship with him.
I have a hard time believing any politician and certainly this guy who has repeatedly stated how he’s winning this war.
Move along, folks, Nothing to see here. Just the “J.V.”….
Yup…just the JV team that are on the run and contained. Pass the remote.
Run and contained? Only if you are ignorant of the attacks in the Western world.
Obama lives in the White House who slaves built. He is surrounded by Secret Service. What would he know.
Rule #1: When contemplating the overthrow of a regime, be sure you know WHO the next leader will be. If you don’t, the solution WILL be worse than the problem. If the US left Saddam Hussein & Khadafy in power, ISIS would NOT be in existence. Sometimes the violation of human rights is better than the wholesale slaughter of innocent civilians as has occurred in Libya and Iraq. Less people died under the 2 dictators than the current vacuum of leadership. Those are the FACTS !!
You are correct and I would add that after the US invaded Iraq, we made the decision to disband their Army. The initial ranks if ISIL consisted of former soldiers and officers who served in the army, were Sunni Muslims, and were disenfranchised by the Shia majority who are running Iraq.
lets see Obama gave arms to isis rebels to help topple the Syrian presdent who was fighting these rebels, and now they turn on us. thanks Obama for giving weapons to isis.
oh lets not forget the tanks and jets Obama and Hillary gave to there Muslim brotherhood friends when they ruled Egypt. to help them fight Israel, these 2 love the Islamic terrorist.
also, and that is why Obama and Hillary will not use the word Islamic terrorist because they are associated with them.
So the JV team is in trouble?
What, now are they Junior High?
JV…what an embarrassment to America.
What a joke of a President.
And the press loves him.
Birds of a feather.
Even though I may not approve of the President, I have always respected the office, even LBJ
Not Obama
Obama says and true in the same sentence? Is it April 1st already? Hope in one hand and poop in the other. See which one gets full faster.