U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a televised address at the White House in Washington, D.C
President Barack Obama is relying on Middle East allies including Saudi Arabia as linchpins in escalating the offensive against Islamic State extremists with airstrikes on both sides of the Iraq-Syria border.
In a speech to the nation Wednesday night (yesterday, Macau time), the president said the U.S. would be joined by a broad coalition of partners for a “steady, relentless effort” against the group. No American ground combat troops will be needed, he said, as American airpower will support local forces, primarily Iraqis and select members of the Syrian opposition.
“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,” Obama said in an address from the White House.
After winning office on a pledge to end the war in Iraq, Obama is reasserting U.S. military power in the region. Obama’s strategy turns on bolstering training and aid for vetted members of the Syrian opposition who are rivals to Islamic State in Syria’s civil war.
The White House has asked Congress to authorize the Defense Department to begin training and equipping the rebel forces, part of a USD500 million program that Obama first proposed in June.
While Obama didn’t identify members of the coalition or specify what they would do, an administration official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity said the U.S. has a commitment from Saudi Arabia to host the training and provide other support to the effort.
Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in the kingdom yesterday to meet with foreign ministers of Sunni Arab nations. The Sunni states have grown increasingly alarmed at the threat from Islamic State.
Obama for the first time said he won’t hesitate to hit Islamic State positions inside Syria, a year after he backed away from authorizing airstrikes against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
The administration is sorting through bombing targets in Syria and the military is ready to launch strikes, U.S. officials said. In Iraq, airstrikes will increase as part of a broader campaign to support Iraqi and Kurdish forces in their fight against the Islamic State.
“What the president recognized is that we have to use our, sort of, military advantages, and they’re airpower, intelligence, drone operations, very targeted special operations,” Senator Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, said on MSNBC yesterday. U.S ground forces can win quick, big victories, he said, “but then you’re in the midst of a political and insurgency nightmare, which happened in Iraq, so I think he’s very conscious of that.”
Another 475 U.S. troops will deploy to Iraq, Obama said, bringing to 1,600 the U.S. military presence in the country. The new troops will assist Iraqis and Kurds with training, intelligence and equipment, he said.
Obama said the offensive fits within a strategy the U.S. has pursued in recent years against al-Qaeda affiliates in places such as Yemen and Somalia, where drones and other aircraft are the main U.S. military tools, combined with increased aid for government forces that carry out the ground fight. Mike Dorning and Angela Greiling Keane, Bloomberg
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