Obama has clearly stated that terrorists in both Syria and Iraq will be destroyed but only this time, it will be with the help of other nations as well.
Moreover, the President also told his audience, with a military background, that they will not be sent into direct combat again.
Speaking at the MacDill Air Force Base, President Obama said, “Whether in Iraq or in Syria, these terrorists will learn the same thing that the leaders of Al Qaeda already know: We mean what we say. We’ve always known that the end of the war in Afghanistan didn’t mean the end of threats or challenges to America.”
He also said that even though almost 1600 American troops are in Iraq at the moment, their mission is not to participate in a ground war. As for the war in Afghanistan, the combat mission is also coming to an end this year and the President also stated doesn’t want to start another war in the Middle East after this.
Obama’s visit to this base involved a meeting with his top commanders at the United States Central Command, and which has the responsibility of overseeing military operations in the Middle East.
It was only a week ago that the President announced an expansion of the American military campaign against extremists in Iraq known as ISIS, or Islamic State.
To this move, Republicans are saying that the efforts isn’t aggressive enough while the Democrats are nervous about being dragged into a conflict where weapons are being provided to a group whose loyalties are not known to them.