Obama Says Islamic States Barbarism Must Be Confronted
President Barack Obama, after meeting with military advisers at the Pentagon, said the U.S. and its allies will follow through with the difficult mission to turn back Islamic extremists in Iraq and Syria.
Obama met behind closed doors with advisers including Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Joint Chiefs Chairman General Martin Dempsey today for an update, as fighters with Islamic State infiltrated a Kurdish village despite U.S. bombing.
There is a broad-based consensus that Islamic States barbaric behavior has to be dealt with, Obama told reporters after meeting with senior military leaders and before convening a session with his National Security Council, also at the Pentagon.
Two months after beginning airstrikes on Iraq, which were expanded on Sept. 23 to include Syria, Obama is trying to answer critics who say Islamic State hasnt been pushed back.
While the U.S. plans to train local ground troops at sites in Saudi Arabia, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest today spoke about that training as a future option.
Its going to take some time for us to train and equip fighters that can be the boots on the ground, Earnest said today. The presidents been clear that this is a longer-term proposition. We have succeeded in striking some of these targets.
Critics include Obamas former defense secretary, Leon Panetta, who said in interviews this week that Obama should consider sending U.S. ground troops, a strategy Obama has rejected. Former President Jimmy Carter, a Democrat, said this week in an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Obama waited too long to act against Islamic State.
Obama has yet to recruit European countries to join the U.S. in airstrikes on Syria. Arab allies are participating in that action, while European countries have conducted airstrikes on Iraq. The White House counts 60 countries as part of the coalition against Islamic State. Obama named retired General John Allen to coordinate the coalition.
Allen, who was at todays meeting, will travel tomorrow to Turkey to discuss the role that nation, which borders Syria, will play in the coalition.
The U.S. Central Command said coalition forces conducted nine airstrikes against Islamic State in Syria today, including four south of Kobani that destroyed vehicles and an artillery piece, and five in Iraq.
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Obama Says Islamic States Barbarism Must Be Confronted