US President Barack Obama has labelled the Paris attacks an unprecedented opportunity to end the four-year war in Syria and destroy the jihadist “face of evil” at the G20 summit in Turkey.
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The French took action immediately and sent their warplanes to bomb ISIS positions in Syria Sunday, while Obama promised on Sunday to escalate efforts to get rid of the Islamic State and prevent attacks like the ones that happened in Paris.
“If folks want to pop off and have opinions about what they think they would do, present a specific plan”, Obama said. And we can have that debate.
In a stinging rebuke, the president condemned Republicans who have suggested USA assistance to refugees fleeing the Middle East should focus on Christians, not Muslims.
“That’s shameful”, he said.
“We’ll do what’s required to keep the American people safe”.
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus called Obama’s statements “excuse-laden and defensive”.
Obama’s administration is not backing off its plan to bring thousands of Syrian refugees to the United States.
The group warned in a new video on Monday that countries taking part in air strikes against Syria would suffer the same fate as France, and threatened to target Washington. “And I guess – let me try it one last time”, said Obama.
Western leaders sought in particular to narrow important differences with Russian President Vladimir Putin on resolving the conflict in Syria.
Terrorists act to intimidate – to strike fear in a populace, and in striking fear, sow political discord. He said that while any refugees to the USA would undergo “rigorous” screening, his government would continue to accept them.
However, Obama ruled out the possibility of deploying more USA ground troops to combat the terrorists.
Obama appeared emotional as he spoke of the consequences of war, referencing the injured troops he visits at Walter Reed, a military hospital near the White House.
And, a few of those people I have ordered into battle.
Despite the heavy shadow cast by the attacks in Paris, world leaders pressed on with their original agenda, pledging in a draft to agree legally-binding goals on climate change at a conference in Paris later this month but making no mention of whether they will help developing countries meet the targets.
That was followed not long after by Jim Acosta of CNN asking Obama, “Why can’t we take out these bastards?” “Or Libya, perhaps? Or if there’s a terrorist network that’s operating anywhere else – in North Africa, or in Southeast Asia?” Obama will fly from Turkey to the Philippines later Monday to speak with Asian leaders. He said reducing the territory controlled by the Islamic State group, or ISIS, in Iraq and Syria will reduce the flow of fighters and lessen the threat it poses.
Numerous discussions about next steps in Syria and the Islamic State campaign were held Monday on the sidelines of the summit in the Turkish seaside resort of Antalya. France is already a strong counterterrorism partner, and today we announce a new agreement.
The president grew irritated amid repeated questions about whether he had underestimated the strength of the Islamic State. He once referred to the extremists as a “JV team” and said shortly before the Paris attack that their capacity in Iraq and Syria had been contained.
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Mr Obama said: “The killing of innocent people, based on a twisted ideology, is an attack not just on France, not just on Turkey, but it’s an attack on the civilized world”.
