Obama urged Americans to “keep our eye on the ball and not panic” in spite of a series of ISIS attacks on civilians around the world.
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The U.S. and Russian Federation agreed to an initial cessation of hostilities in February, but the agreement has frayed in the past few months as rebels and forces allied to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have continued to clash, most recently in Aleppo where Assad’s forces have encircled rebel-held parts of the city. However, he warned that “the possibility of a lone actor or a small cell that kills people is real” and that IS-linked cells in the USA could be activated. The United States agreeing to attack the group would benefit Russian Federation and the Syrian government, but potentially could weaken the moderate rebels in the country that it has supported in the fight against the Islamic State group, Markoff said. Skeptics fear the Russians will take advantage of US intelligence sharing to further support the government of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who Obama has said has lost legitimacy to lead.
President Barack Obama said Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant leaders know they will lose in Syria and Iraq, and they are already shifting their strategy in advance of that sure defeat.
The twin US goals in Syria have been to end the violence that has claimed some 400,000 lives, according to United Nations estimates, and to seek a political process to replace Assad, whom Obama has said “must go”.
Obama says the group may continue to inspire people to carry out lone wolf-type attacks on subways or parades to sow fear and elevate its profile.
For five years Russian President Vladimir Putin has steadfastly supported the regime of Bashar al-Assad, offering global cover, military aid and in the last year carrying out its own strikes in anti-Assad areas.
However, Obama said Thursday that the options are limited when you have a civil war such as the one in Syria.
He said terrorism likely won’t be eliminated by his administration or his successors, and he’s always pushing his team to seek out new ideas to battle the problem.
Speaking in a briefing at the Pentagon after talks with his National Security Council advisors, he said the “US remains prepared to work with Russia” to pressure President Bashar Al-Assad into initiating a cessation of hostilities followed by a political process which would support counter-IS efforts, “but so far Russian Federation has failed to take the necessary steps”.
Obama, who came to office promising to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has hit the Islamic State with airstrikes and commando raids, but has steadfastly refused to bomb Assad or start another ground war in the Middle East.
“We’re far from freeing Mosul and Raqqa”. “And we’re going to keep working with partners.to expose [the Islamic State group] for what they are: murderers who kill innocent people”.
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The strikes in Libya come as Obama also recently approved expanded airstrikes to counter the threat of the Islamic State group in Afghanistan, and inserted USA forces closer to the front lines in Iraq and Syria.
