WASHINGTON — President Obama admitted Thursday that “we don’t have a
strategy yet” for dealing with Islamic State, the terrorists who have
rampaged across Iraq and Syria and seized Iraq’s second-largest city
nearly three months ago.
Obama made the admission when asked at a news conference whether he
would seek Congress’ authorization to go after the group in Syria, where
he said it has a “safe haven.”
“I don’t want to put the cart before the horse,” he said. “We don’t
have a strategy yet. As our strategy develops, we will consult with
Congress.”
The US has already begun “limited” airstrikes against Islamic State
in Iraq to protect minority groups, bolster Kurdish forces and safeguard
US personnel in the north of the war-ravaged country.
But with militants controlling huge swaths of territory, executing
prisoners and imposing a brutal brand of Islam, there are increasing
calls to also hit the group in Syria.
- Obama appeared to keep the door open to doing that even without authorization of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, who he charged lacked “legitimacy” after using brutal tactics against his own citizens.
- Assad’s government has warned that such strikes would be considered an act of “aggression.”
- “We need to make sure that we’ve got clear plans,” Obama said.
- “Clearly, ISIL has come to represent the very worst elements in the region that we have to deal with collectively,” he added, using another name for Islamic State.
- The US is reaching out to coalition partners who could contribute to any stepped-up efforts.
- “We are going to work politically and diplomatically with folks in the region,” Obama said. “And we’re going to cobble together the kind of coalition that we need for a long-term strategy as soon as we are able to fit together the military, political and economic components of that strategy.”
Earlier Thursday, it was reported that members of the group had
water-boarded American journalist James Foley, who was executed in a
video.
“Yes, that is part of the information that bubbled up, and Jim was
subject to it,” a person familiar with his captivity told The Washington
Post. “I believe he suffered a lot of physical abuse.”
The US waterboarded detainees in CIA facilities after the 9/11
attacks. Obama has called the interrogation technique a form of torture.
Source: NyPost, CNN
Post a Comment