The president spoke in Malaysia shortly before departing for Washington.
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“Destroying (Islamic State) is not only a realistic goal, we’re going to get it done”, he told a news conference.
That will follow two other high-profile meetings on Monday with allies.
Syria was the focus for Secretary of State John Kerry as he headed to the United Arab Emirates on Sunday for talks with government leaders. “But overwhelmingly, Americans say the United States and its allies are losing the war against ISIS and the poll shows bipartisan support for sending additional ground troops to fight the Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria”.
Bashar Assad’s presidency looks likely to outlast Barack Obama’s.
Also on Sunday, California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., sponsor of the bill. Russian Federation and America should work together.
Republican presidential wannabe Ted Cruz warned that the US could be the next target and demanded that Obama call off plans to accept 10,000 refugees from Syria.
Hillary Clinton, Mr. Obama’s former secretary of state and now the leading Democratic contender to succeed him in the White House, reiterated her call for a no-fly zone over parts of Syria, saying: “It is time to begin a new phase … to smash the would-be caliphate”.
“The United States is certainly pulling more than our own weight”, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Monday. He said greater military cooperation with Russian Federation was possible under the right circumstances. The report did not disclose whether there were Russian army casualties. The jihadists are after all a common enemy, which they have proved with the downing of the jetliner.
As for enlisting the help of Russian Federation or even Iran in a grand coalition to defeat the jihadis, forget it. Moscow and Tehran hold all the cards in new diplomatic efforts to end the Syrian conflict. He also claimed that aircraft had destroyed 15 Islamic State oil facilities in Syria as well as 525 fuel trucks, depriving the Islamic State of $1.5 million in daily income.
France, Russia, the United States and the UK have all vowed to step up their battle against the evil terror group, deploying spy planes, bombs and nuclear attack submarines as part of their effort.
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian cited the Russian cruise missile assault on the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa and said Moscow has evidently “shifted” its position by bombing known ISIS targets. On a vote of 289-137, including 47 Democrats, the House voted to require the Federal Bureau of Investigation to closely vet any applicant from Syria and to guarantee that none of them pose a threat to the US. “The United States could never be at any war with any religion because America is made up by multiple religions”.
Since the Paris massacre, Putin has been on a charm offensive with the French.
The USA administration remains leery. French President Francois Hollande met Monday with British Prime Minister David Cameron in Paris. And they haven’t discounted the possibility that Moscow will continue playing nice, which could lead to at least a loose version of the “grand coalition” the Russians seek.
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“In addition to hunting down terrorists, in addition to effective intelligence, and in addition to missile strikes, and in addition to cutting off financing and all the other things that we’re doing, the most powerful tool we have to fight ISIL is to say that we’re not afraid; to not elevate them; to somehow buy into their fantasy that they’re doing something important”, he said, although he immediately admitted, “they’re a bunch of killers”. He added that “I will not say that I will not run if I see that this is needed”.
