Strong Speech by the US President: Obama Declares War on the Islamic State

The U.S. president introduced a plan to destroy the radicals who created the Islamic State. Not long ago, he called them “[junior varsity players] in Lakers uniforms.”

“We will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are,” said Barack Obama during a TV speech addressed to the nation. “That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: If you threaten America, you will find no safe haven.”

These words were addressed to the Islamic State — a radical organization that controls vast areas of eastern Syria and western Iraq. They terrorize the local population and persecute religious minorities, including Christians. Recently, Islamic State fighters, who proclaimed the rise of a caliphate on the occupied lands, beheaded two American journalists and showed the executions on YouTube.

Obama Surprised by Islamists

In the spring of this year, with shocking ease, they occupied Mosul, the second biggest city in Iraq. The regular army, under the government in Baghdad, fled from them in panic, leaving bases full of American weapons.

The expansion of the self-appointed Islamic State surprised the whole world, especially Obama. In January of this year, in an interview for The New Yorker, Obama spoke in a dismissive manner about them: “If a JV team puts on Lakers uniforms that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant.”

Today those words are a nasty reminder for Obama, as proof that he and his advisers were not able to properly judge the danger. Last Sunday on NBC, the president was asked if he still believed that the Islamic State soldiers are “JVs in Lakers uniforms.” He vaguely explained that his remark was not describing them, but the many local terrorist organizations.

New Strategy in Two Weeks

In any case, it was not his first mistake regarding the Islamic State. After the execution of an American journalist, Obama made a short speech and right after went to play golf, which many Americans found improper. And two weeks ago, during a press conference he admitted on behalf of his entire team of White House advisers that “we don’t have a strategy yet.” It was widely said that the lack of a strategy is outrageous, but foolishly acknowledging its lack was probably even worse. This latest blunder surely was the reason why Obama decided to speak to the nation on Wednesday. In four points, he introduced the strategy that two weeks ago did not even exist.

Firstly, Americans will consistently launch air strikes against the Islamic State army, something that they did anyway in Iraq for the last month. The air strikes might expand to Syria, which is in fact significant — Obama did not want to interfere in Syria’s civil war (in which the Islamic State soldiers are one of the main players, fighting both the moderate rebels backed by the West and the army of President Bashar al-Assad).

Assad: An Uncomfortable Ally

Secondly, Americans will support local allies who fight against the Islamic State in Iraq, including the regular army and peshmergas — fighters of the Kurdish autonomy — not only with air strikes, but also by supplying weapons and advisers. There are already around 1,000 American advisers in Iraq. Obama will send another 500. However, as the president said, they will not be directly involved in the fighting. “There are risks involved,” he stipulated. He explained that the risks must be taken for the security of America and its citizens.

In Syria, it is not that easy with the local allies. Today, there is nobody there who could support American air strikes against the Islamic State with a land offensive. Although Assad is eager, Americans don’t want to cooperate with a dictator who, one year ago, used chemical weapons against citizens. Obama had mentioned supporting “moderate opposition” that would get weapons and receive training (most likely in Saudi Arabia). The problem, however, is that after couple of years of civil war, that “moderate opposition” has been completely crushed — from one side by the regime’s army and from the other side by the Islamic radicals. Its rebuilding will take years.

The third point of Obama’s strategy is an expansion of intelligence abilities to stop hundreds and thousands of volunteers, mainly from Western Europe but also sometimes from America, who are going to Iraq and Syria to join the army of the Islamic State. They are considered especially dangerous because they can return to their countries and continue jihad.

Kerry’s Allies’ Mobilization

Fourthly, Americans will continue offering humanitarian assistance to the local people who are being persecuted by the Islamic State army. A month ago, Americans started supplying provisions to thousands of Yazidis, a religious minority that the Islamic State rebels tried to convert to Islam. Threatened with death, Yazidis escaped to the mountains, where at least dozens of children died from exhaustion and thirst.

Obama’s strategy is being implemented by Secretary of State John Kerry, who is traveling in the Middle East to mobilize allies. Yesterday he was in Baghdad, today in Saudi Arabia, whose king — according to the American diplomats — agreed to create training camps for the moderate Syrian rebels in his country.