Barack Obama

“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,” Obama said. “Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, [ISIS] through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy.”

Over the past month, the U.S. has conducted more than 150 air strikes against ISIS targets in Iraq under the limited mission to protect American facilities and provide humanitarian relief. But Obama, who was elected to end two wars, found himself announcing an open-ended campaign against ISIS, as American public opinion has shifted in favor of strikes against the group following the beheading of two American journalists.

“If there is an [ISIS] target that we need to hit in Iraq, we will hit it,” a senior Administration official said Wednesday previewing the speech. “This is something that the President has decided to do,” an official said of strikes in Syria.

“I will not hesitate to take action against [ISIS] in Syria, as well as Iraq,” Obama said, acknowledging there will be risks to American service members. “This is a core principle of my presidency: If you threaten America, you will find no safe haven.”

But what will follow will be far from the “shock and awe” of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Instead, Administration officials described a long-term campaign designed to limit the extremist group’s ability to operate with “impunity” in its territory. “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,” Obama said, referring to long-standing targeted drone campaigns against al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and al-Shabab fighters.

http://time.com/3319658/obama-isis-speech-iraq-syria/

Thank you freshwest. He was calm, precise and focused. Not at all surprising, it is how he works. Some just don't get that do they?