Down militants wherever they are
On the eve of 9/11 anniversary this week, President Obama plans to outline the American strategy for a broader offensive against ISIS, which is being increasingly identified as a potential security threat to US homeland.
While it was not immediately clear if he would announce an expansion of air strikes to the Islamic State strongholds in Syria, Obama stated in a media interview that the US would “hunt down” the terrorists “wherever they are”.
“The strategy both for Iraq and for Syria is that we will hunt down (ISIS) members and assets wherever they are. I will reserve the right to always protect the American people and go after folks who are trying to hurt us wherever they are,” Obama told NBC’s Meet the Press that aired on Sunday.
A day before his Wednesday address to the nation, Obama would be meeting Congressional leaders against the backdrop of the growing demand from lawmakers, predominantly Republican, for taking the battle against ISIS beyond Iraq into Syria.
Having made clear in recent days that an offensive against ISIS could be a protracted affair, Obama said in his interview: “I just want the American people to understand the nature of the threat and how we’re going to deal with it and to have confidence that we’ll be able to deal with it.”
“The next phase is now to start going on some offence,” he said, noting: “What I want people to understand is that over the course of months, we are going to be able to not just blunt the momentum (of ISIS).
“We are going to systematically degrade their capabilities; we’re going to shrink the territory that they control; and, ultimately, we’re going to defeat them,” he said, even as he made clear yet again that he would not deploy US ground troops in the region.
Obama, who came under intense criticism 10 days ago for his public admission that he did not have a strategy as yet against ISIS in its Syrian safe havens, indicated that his upcoming address would “describe what our game plan’s going to be”.
Amid the speculation that ISIS might try to stage a terror act to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary, Obama sought to reassure his countrymen, saying: “I want everybody to understand that we have not seen any immediate intelligence about threats to the homeland.”
Commenting on the 10-nation coalition put together on the sidelines of the just-concluded NATO summit, Obama said: “We are going to be a part of an international coalition, carrying out air strikes in support of work on the ground by Iraqi troops, Kurdish troops.”
The White House, meanwhile, announced on Sunday that the US military has conducted airstrikes against ISIS positions in Iraq in support of the efforts of Iraqi security forces to retain control of the Haditha Dam in Anbar province and defend its critical infrastructure.
Any destruction of the dam would unleash massive flooding and pose a catastrophic threat to thousands of Iraqis along the Euphrates valley from Anbar province into parts of Baghdad, including possible flooding in areas in and around the Baghdad International Airport, the White House said.