“Coalition aircraft, our fighters, bombers and drones have been increasing the pace of airstrikes, almost 9,000 as of today”, Obama said, adding that ISIL has lost roughly 40 percent of the territory it once held in Iraq.
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United Nations for political transition in Syria
The conflict in Syria has killed upwards of 300,000 people and displaced millions more, creating the world’s worst refugee crisis since the second world war.
U.S. President Barack Obama arrives to deliver a statement after attending a National Security Council meeting on the counter-Islamic State campaign at the Pentagon in Washington, December 14, 2015.
Chelsea In Talks With Montreal Over Drogba
That’s one way to win back the dressing room I suppose. “It is a few years ago I was here in a similar situation”, he said . But then we’ll see. “We are now in contact with Didier Drogba and Chelsea FC”, the MLS club said .
Analysts said his speech was part of a public relations drive to ease worries about domestic terrorism ahead of the Christmas and New Year holidays.
Brussels police detain two in raids linked to Paris attacks
The two Belgians arrived in Paris at 6am the day after the massacre and picked up Abdeslam at an address where he was hiding. The prosecutor’s office, without giving details, said an analysis of phone records led to Sunday’s search.
President Barack Obama is offering some of the first public details about the activities of USA special forces that have been sent to fight the Islamic State group.
The president will also be sending US Defense Secretary Ash Carter to the Middle East this week, beginning with a stop in Turkey, while Secretary of State John Kerry plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the threat of IS, according to CBS News.
“All this said, we recognize that progress needs to keep coming faster”, he stressed. Obama is scheduled to attend a briefing at the National Counterterrorism Center on Thursday. “… Since this summer, ISIL has not had a single successful major offensive operation on the ground in either Syria or Iraq”. Obama said airstrikes had increased and the coalition had successfully knocked out key figures in the group’s leadership “one by one”.
Obama also emphasized that the fight on the ground must be carried out by local forces and allies in the region.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the president spoke on Monday to reassure the Americans that the administration is “hard at work” to ensure they are safe and to demonstrate that great progress has been made in the effort to combat the terror group.
In the poll, 56 per cent of Americans said the us military response to ISIS has not gone far enough, up from 46 per cent since October 2014.
“If there’s an opportunity for us to intensify efforts behind one aspect of our strategy, then that is something that he wants his team to be prepared to do”, Earnest said. The terror group claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks.
An Associated Press poll shows that seven in 10 Americans rate the risk of a terrorist attack in the U.S.as at least somewhat high.
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During a conference call on Monday with religious leaders, the top White House officials assured that the Justice Department would be swift and vigilant in hunting down any hate crimes and other civil rights violations, maintaining the idea that an attack on any faith is an attack on all faiths.
