Thursday, September 11, 2014

Obama orders US airstrikes in Syria against ISIS/ISIL

President Barack Obama committed the United States on Wednesday to a broad military campaign to root out militants in two volatile Middle East nations, authorising airstrikes in both Syria and Iraq that could last well after his presidency.

Obama said he had authorised US airstrikes for the first time in Syria and more attacks in Iraq in a broad escalation of a campaign against the Islamic State militant group.


Obama’s decision to launch attacks inside Syria, which is embroiled in a three-year civil war, showed the seriousness of the threat American officials see from Islamic State, which is also know as ISIS and ISIL. A year ago, the president shied away from airstrikes against Syria’s government for its use of chemical weapons against Syrians.

Obama laid out his emerging plan for tackling the group in a widely anticipated White House speech, two weeks after coming under fire for saying: “We don’t have a strategy yet” in fighting IS militants in Syria and six months after declaring that groups like Islamic State were minor players.

“Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy,” Obama said, avoiding the use of Islamic State, which suggests that the group has succeeded in carving out a caliphate in the Middle East.

He said he would hunt down Islamic State militants “wherever they are”.

“That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no safe haven,” he said.

He said he would expand the list of targets inside Iraq beyond several isolated areas. He will send 475 more American advisers to help Iraqi forces, joining more than 1,000 already there. Obama reiterated than those troops will not engage in combat.

A ‘different’ war

In a significant move that could help rally Gulf Arab states behind the US-led coalition, key ally Saudi Arabia will host inside its territory a US training effort for Syrian rebels, senior US officials said. The effort is dependent on the US Congress approving $500 million to train and arm the rebels.

The Saudi decision emerged after Obama spoke by phone earlier in the day with Saudi King Abdullah, who has pressed the American government to do more resolve the Syrian conflict.

Obama has staked much of his foreign policy record on having extracted US forces from Iraq after running for president in 2008 on a pledge to end what he felt was an unnecessary conflict (which he once described as “a dumb war”) launched by his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush.

Obama’s move to deepen US involvement in Iraq in its fight against the Islamic State group follows opinion polls that show Americans feel the president has been too cautious in tackling the group. Three quarters of Americans said they supported US airstrikes in Iraq and Syria in a CNN/ORC poll published on Wednesday. The most drastic of tack has come from Tea Party supporters, which had initially rallied against military intervention.

Obama has struggled with a host of foreign policy crises this year, bringing his overall public approval record down to near record lows of about 40 percent.

Obama vowed he would not send large numbers of US combat forces to the region but would rely instead on assistance from a broad coalition involving Sunni-led governments in the region and Western allies.

US officials want allies to join in attacks on the group as well as in training and equipping Iraqi forces and Syrian rebels, providing humanitarian relief and intelligence.

Excluding Assad

What specifically each nation will do in the coalition remains to be hammered out. Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting Gulf allies in the region and Obama is to host a leaders’ security conference at the UN General Assembly in two weeks with the aim of fleshing out duties of the coalition.

Before the focus on the IS threat, Obama for months had been cool to the notion of arming the poorly organised Syrian rebels, fearing weapons provided to them could end up in the wrong hands.

But he now needs the rebels to become strong enough to hold ground cleared by US airstrikes, just as Iraqi forces are doing in Iraq.

US officials pushed back hard against the notion that striking IS strongholds in Syria would unintentionally help President Bashar al-Assad. They said the Sunni-majority areas in the eastern part of the country the militants hold are not places where Assad loyalists would be able to take advantage to regain control.

Islamic State militants controls broad areas in Iraq and Syria and uses savage methods that have included the beheading of many prisoners, including two Americans.

“This counter-terrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground,” Obama said.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS, AP)

http://www.france24.com/en/20140911-live-obama-us-strategy-islamic-state-iraq-syria/
11/9/14
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Related:

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  • Statement by the President on ISIL (The White House)
Office of the Press Secretary,  September 10, 2014:
State Floor
9:01 P.M. EDT
"My fellow Americans, tonight I want to speak to you about what the United States will do with our friends and allies to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL.
As Commander-in-Chief, my highest priority is the security of the American people.  Over the last several years, we have consistently taken the fight to terrorists who threaten our country.  We took out Osama bin Laden and much of al Qaeda’s leadership in Afghanistan and Pakistan.  We’ve targeted al Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, and recently eliminated the top commander of its affiliate in Somalia.  We’ve done so while bringing more than 140,000 American troops home from Iraq, and drawing down our forces in Afghanistan, where our combat mission will end later this year.  Thanks to our military and counterterrorism professionals, America is safer. 
Still, we continue to face a terrorist threat.  We can’t erase every trace of evil from the world, and small groups of killers have the capacity to do great harm.  That was the case before 9/11, and that remains true today.  And that’s why we must remain vigilant as threats emerge.  At this moment, the greatest threats come from the Middle East and North Africa, where radical groups exploit grievances for their own gain.  And one of those groups is ISIL -- which calls itself the “Islamic State.”
Now let’s make two things clear:  ISIL is not “Islamic.”  No religion condones the killing of innocents.  And the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim.  And ISIL is certainly not a state.  It was formerly al Qaeda’s affiliate in Iraq, and has taken advantage of sectarian strife and Syria’s civil war to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syrian border.  It is recognized by no government, nor by the people it subjugates.  ISIL is a terrorist organization, pure and simple.  And it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way.
In a region that has known so much bloodshed, these terrorists are unique in their brutality.  They execute captured prisoners.  They kill children.  They enslave, rape, and force women into marriage.  They threatened a religious minority with genocide.  And in acts of barbarism, they took the lives of two American journalists -- Jim Foley and Steven Sotloff.
So ISIL poses a threat to the people of Iraq and Syria, and the broader Middle East -- including American citizens, personnel and facilities.  If left unchecked, these terrorists could pose a growing threat beyond that region, including to the United States.  While we have not yet detected specific plotting against our homeland, ISIL leaders have threatened America and our allies.  Our Intelligence Community believes that thousands of foreigners -– including Europeans and some Americans –- have joined them in Syria and Iraq.  Trained and battle-hardened, these fighters could try to return to their home countries and carry out deadly attacks.
I know many Americans are concerned about these threats.  Tonight, I want you to know that the United States of America is meeting them with strength and resolve.  Last month, I ordered our military to take targeted action against ISIL to stop its advances.  Since then, we’ve conducted more than 150 successful airstrikes in Iraq.  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.  These strikes have also helped save the lives of thousands of innocent men, women and children. 
But this is not our fight alone.  American power can make a decisive difference, but we cannot do for Iraqis what they must do for themselves, nor can we take the place of Arab partners in securing their region.  And that’s why I’ve insisted that additional U.S. action depended upon Iraqis forming an inclusive government, which they have now done in recent days.  So tonight, with a new Iraqi government in place, and following consultations with allies abroad and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat.
Our objective is clear:  We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy.
First, we will conduct a systematic campaign of airstrikes against these terrorists.  Working with the Iraqi government, we will expand our efforts beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions, so that we’re hitting ISIL targets as Iraqi forces go on offense.  Moreover, I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are.  That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq.  This is a core principle of my presidency:  If you threaten America, you will find no safe haven. 
Second, we will increase our support to forces fighting these terrorists on the ground.  In June, I deployed several hundred American servicemembers to Iraq to assess how we can best support Iraqi security forces.  Now that those teams have completed their work –- and Iraq has formed a government –- we will send an additional 475 servicemembers to Iraq.  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.  We’ll also support Iraq’s efforts to stand up National Guard Units to help Sunni communities secure their own freedom from ISIL’s control.
Across the border, in Syria, we have ramped up our military assistance to the Syrian opposition.  Tonight, I call on Congress again to give us additional authorities and resources to train and equip these fighters.  In the fight against ISIL, we cannot rely on an Assad regime that terrorizes its own people -- a regime that will never regain the legitimacy it has lost.  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. 
Third, we will continue to draw on our substantial counterterrorism capabilities to prevent ISIL 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.  And in two weeks, I will chair a meeting of the U.N. Security Council to further mobilize the international community around this effort.
Fourth, we will continue to provide humanitarian assistance to innocent civilians who have been displaced by this terrorist organization.  This includes Sunni and Shia Muslims who are at grave risk, as well as tens of thousands of Christians and other religious minorities.  We cannot allow these communities to be driven from their ancient homelands. 
So this is our strategy.  And in each of these four parts of our strategy, America will be joined by a broad coalition of partners.  Already, allies are flying planes with us over Iraq; sending arms and assistance to Iraqi security forces and the Syrian opposition; sharing intelligence; and providing billions of dollars in humanitarian aid.  Secretary Kerry was in Iraq today meeting with the new government and supporting their efforts to promote unity.  And in the coming days he will travel across the Middle East and Europe to enlist more partners in this fight, especially Arab nations who can help mobilize Sunni communities in Iraq and Syria, to drive these terrorists from their lands.  This is American leadership at its best:  We stand with people who fight for their own freedom, and we rally other nations on behalf of our common security and common humanity. 
My administration has also secured bipartisan support for this approach here at home.  I have the authority to address the threat from ISIL, but I believe we are strongest as a nation when the President and Congress work together.  So I welcome congressional support for this effort in order to show the world that Americans are united in confronting this danger.
Now, it will take time to eradicate a cancer like ISIL.  And any time we take military action, there are risks involved –- especially to the servicemen and women who carry out these missions.  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.  This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground.  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.  And it is consistent with the approach I outlined earlier this year:  to use force against anyone who threatens America’s core interests, but to mobilize partners wherever possible to address broader challenges to international order. 
My fellow Americans, we live in a time of great change. Tomorrow marks 13 years since our country was attacked.  Next week marks six years since our economy suffered its worst setback since the Great Depression.  Yet despite these shocks, through the pain we have felt and the grueling work required to bounce back, America is better positioned today to seize the future than any other nation on Earth.
Our technology companies and universities are unmatched.  Our manufacturing and auto industries are thriving.  Energy independence is closer than it’s been in decades.  For all the work that remains, our businesses are in the longest uninterrupted stretch of job creation in our history.  Despite all the divisions and discord within our democracy, I see the grit and determination and common goodness of the American people every single day –- and that makes me more confident than ever about our country’s future.
Abroad, American leadership is the one constant in an uncertain world.  It is America that has the capacity and the will to mobilize the world against terrorists.  It is America that has rallied the world against Russian aggression, and in support of the Ukrainian peoples’ right to determine their own destiny.  It is America –- our scientists, our doctors, our know-how –- that can help contain and cure the outbreak of Ebola.  It is America that helped remove and destroy Syria’s declared chemical weapons so that they can’t pose a threat to the Syrian people or the world again.  And it is America that is helping Muslim communities around the world not just in the fight against terrorism, but in the fight for opportunity, and tolerance, and a more hopeful future.
America, our endless blessings bestow an enduring burden.  But as Americans, we welcome our responsibility to lead.  From Europe to Asia, from the far reaches of Africa to war-torn capitals of the Middle East, we stand for freedom, for justice, for dignity.  These are values that have guided our nation since its founding. 
Tonight, I ask for your support in carrying that leadership forward.  I do so as a Commander-in-Chief who could not be prouder of our men and women in uniform –- pilots who bravely fly in the face of danger above the Middle East, and servicemembers who support our partners on the ground.
When we helped prevent the massacre of civilians trapped on a distant mountain, here’s what one of them said:  “We owe our American friends our lives.  Our children will always remember that there was someone who felt our struggle and made a long journey to protect innocent people.”
That is the difference we make in the world.  And our own safety, our own security, depends upon our willingness to do what it takes to defend this nation and uphold the values that we stand for –- timeless ideals that will endure long after those who offer only hate and destruction have been vanquished from the Earth.
May God bless our troops, and may God bless the United States of America."
 http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/10/remarks-president-barack-obama-address-nation
10/9/14

 

8 comments :

  1. Obama orders U.S. airstrikes in Syria against Islamic State...

    (Reuters) - President Barack Obama told Americans on Wednesday he had authorized U.S. airstrikes for the first time in Syria and more attacks in Iraq in a broad escalation of a campaign against the Islamic State militant group.

    Obama's decision to launch attacks inside Syria, which is embroiled in a three-year civil war, marked a turnabout for the president, who shied away a year ago from airstrikes to punish Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for using chemical weapons against his own people.

    In a widely anticipated, 13-minute White House speech, Obama said he would hunt down Islamic State militants "wherever they are" in a drive to degrade and ultimately destroy the group, which has seized broad stretches of Iraq and Syria.

    "That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no safe haven," he said, speaking on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

    Obama asked Congress to authorize $500 million to train and arm “moderate” Syrian rebels. The training would take place in Saudi Arabia...................http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/11/us-iraq-crisis-obama-idUSKBN0H527Z20140911?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

    ReplyDelete
  2. Obama: Wir bringen die Terroristen zur Strecke...

    Barack Obama will die amerikanischen Luftangriffe gegen die Terrormiliz „Islamischer Staat“ auf Syrien ausdehnen. Zudem kündigte er in seiner Fernsehansprache an, weitere Soldaten in den Irak zu schicken.

    Der amerikanische Präsident Barack Obama hat entschieden, Stellungen des „Islamischen Staats“ auf beiden Seiten der syrisch-irakischen Grenze aus der Luft angreifen zu lassen. Das gehört nach Angaben hoher Regierungsvertreter zu seiner neuen Strategie. Obama gab in einer Fernsehansprache am Mittwochabend das Ziel aus, die Terrororganisation „zu schwächen und letztendlich zu zerstören“. Nach der von Washington seit langem geforderten Bildung einer alle Volksgruppen vertretenden Regierung in Bagdad könne er „verkünden, dass Amerika eine breite Koalition anführen wird, um diese terroristische Bedrohung zurückzudrängen“...................http://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/ausland/amerika/obama-wir-werden-is-schwaechen-und-schliesslich-zerstoeren-13147268.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. US armed forces prepared to carry out orders, says Hagel ...

    "The men and women of the US armed forces are ready to carry out the orders of our commander-in-chief, to work with our partners across government, and to work with our friends and allies around the world to accomplish this mission," US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a statement after President Barack Obama's speech on Wednesday night.
    http://www.jpost.com/Breaking-News/US-armed-forces-prepared-to-carry-out-orders-says-Hagel-375015

    ReplyDelete
  4. U.S. State Department: On the President's Speech on ISIL...

    Press Statement
    John Kerry
    Secretary of State
    Washington, DC
    September 10, 2014
    ------------------
    Tonight the President spoke directly to our country about what it will take to lead the world to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL, and 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.

    Working to create a common coalition against a common threat, the President sent me to Baghdad on Wednesday to meet with its new inclusive government, which forms the heart and the backbone of our anti-ISIL efforts. I will be traveling over the coming days throughout the Middle East and Europe to continue the diplomatic effort to meet a unifying threat with a unified response.

    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.
    http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2014/09/231459.htm
    10/9/14

    ReplyDelete
  5. ‘No safe haven’: Obama declares airstrikes on Islamic State ‘wherever it exists’...

    President Barack Obama on Wednesday outlined his plan to authorize broader US military involvement for hunting down the fighters of the notorious Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq, Syria and “wherever they exist.”

    In a public address to the American people, President Obama announced that the US will "conduct a systematic campaign of airstrikes against these terrorists."

    “I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are," Obama stated. "That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no safe haven.”

    The president’s strategy in Syria will also be to support opposition forces, and he again called on Congress to give the US government "additional authorities and resources to train and equip these 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. 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, “ Obama said.

    To ensure that the Syrian opposition fighters are trained and equipped well enough to hold the ground liberated from the Islamic State terrorists, at least $500 million in a Department of Defense program are stipulated in a $5 billion Counterterrorism Partnership Fund request, according to the White House................http://rt.com/usa/186840-obama-islamic-state-address/

    ReplyDelete
  6. Background Conference Call on the President's Address to the Nation (The White House)...

    ...SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL: I would just add, Andrea, on the question about aiding the Syrian moderate opposition in Syria to go after ISIL, the issue here is -- unlike in Iraq, where we have a government with whom we can work and a ground force that we can support and assist, we do not have a government, quite obviously, in Syria with whom we can work. We need to bolster the Syrian moderate opposition to enable it to be able to take and hold ground, pushing out both ISIL and the Assad regime. That is going to be essential to our strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy the organization.

    As my colleague said, the President has made quite clear that ISIL will not have a safe haven in either Iraq or Syria, and we will conduct a systematic air campaign to roll back ISIL and address their freedom of movement across the borderless -- now borderless area between Iraq and Syria. And when that happens inside Syria, and going after and degrading ISIL and their operations there, we need to have a moderate Sunni force in order to come in and hold that ground.

    And what we’re asking from the Congress, and what the President has already asked the Congress for, is authorization to enable us to undertake that training/equipping mission. And now what we have is the commitment from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which we received, indeed, in a trip that I took over the last weekend to the Kingdom, to be a full partner with us in that effort, including by hosting that training program.......http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/09/10/background-conference-call-presidents-address-nation
    10/9/14

    ReplyDelete
  7. Syria reiterates need for its consent in foreign actions on IS insdie Syria ...

    Syria's Minister of Reconciliation Ali Haidar on Thursday reiterated that any uncoordinated foreign airstrikes on Syrian territories without the consent of the Syrian government will be deemed as an aggression.

    "Any action of any kind without the consent of the Syrian government will be deemed as an aggression," Haidar said, one day after US President Barak Obama sanctioned airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) positions in Syria but said his administration can't "rely" on the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

    Haidar warned that Islamic State militants could be used by Western powers in the coming stage as a pretext for intervention in the region's countries unless there are true intentions to battle terrorism.

    "The international effort has not yet amounted to the real stage of countering terrorism," he said, adding that talks about moderate opposition is not accurate as "whoever holds weapons is a terrorist."

    Last month, the United Nations Security Council adopted a resolution on sanctions against extremist Islamist groups in Iraq and Syria, in an attempt to cut off funding to these groups.
    http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/881024.shtml

    ReplyDelete
  8. Iran's supreme leader said on Monday he had personally rejected an offer from the United States for talks to fight Islamic State, an apparent blow to Washington's efforts to build a military coalition to fight militants in both Iraq and Syria....

    World powers meeting in Paris on Monday gave public backing to military action to fight Islamic State fighters in Iraq. France sent jets on a reconnaissance mission to Iraq, a step toward becoming the first ally to join the U.S.-led air campaign there.

    The United States launched an air strike against an Islamic State target southwest of Baghdad, the U.S. Central Command said on Monday night, expanding its campaign against the militant group that has seized parts of Iraq and Syria...................http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/16/us-iraq-crisis-idUSKBN0HA1SD20140916?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
    16/9/14

    ReplyDelete

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