On Wednesday night, Barrack Obama the president of the United States explained to the public about some specific strategies the U.S. government has planned to combat the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The U.S. military will be leading a coalition of forces from America and its allies and it is reported that the U.S. will be leading the joint task force.
In the address presented on Wednesday, President Obama assured his listeners that this fight against the Islamic State will be different from wars fought in the past against Afghanistan or Iraq. He explained that the joint attack will involve a systematic series of airstrikes, and emphasized that he plans to extend U.S. involvement in the conflict to Syria also. The president added that he is aware that the American people are most concerned about the casualties of servicemen and women in the case of combat, so he emphasized that U.S. ground troops will not be taking part in the operation.
"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." the president explained in his address.
Obama added that, "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. 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."
President Obama also touched on the killings of civilians, especially ethnical and religious minorities in Iraq and Syria, and the two American journalists, James Foley and Steven Sotloff. He called the actions of the terrorist group, "barbaric" and went as far as to state that there is nothing "Islamic" about the Islamic State. He stated that, "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."
He then moved onto talk about what might happen in the future if the Islamic State is not deterred. The president noted how it is not only Arabs, but also hundreds of Europeans and Americans that are fighting as active members of the militant organization. He brought up that ISIS, if left unchecked, may expand into a threat that endangers not only the Middle East but other regions, "including the United States".
Right now it is reported that ISIS has 500 British and around 600 American members. What is more shocking is the fact that many of these Western members are ethnically not Arabic, and some even converted relatively recently to Islam to join the jihadists. In the video that was released by ISIS through CNN it showed the beheading of journalist James Foley, showed that the executioner was speaking in a rather obvious British accent.
Meanwhile, the U.S. and NATO allies are planning to directly combat ISIS, but without the deployment of American ground forces. However, ISIS is also reaching out to other Muslim extremist organizations including Boko Haram which is fighting to construct a caliphate in Nigeria and Africa.
