http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/3/obama-vows-destroy-and-degrade-islamic-state-after/print/Obama vows to ‘destroy and degrade’ Islamic State after Sotloff beheading
By Ben Wolfgang - The Washington Times - Wednesday, September 3, 2014
President Obama said Wednesday that the federal government has authenticated a video showing the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff at the hands of Islamist militants, and the U.S. objective now is to "degrade and destroy" those militants so they no longer pose a threat to the civilized world.
Speaking at a press conference alongside Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, Mr. Obama seemed to lay the groundwork for expanded U.S. action against the terrorist group known as the Islamic State, also known by the acronyms ISIL and ISIS.
The U.S. continues to target Islamic State positions in Iraq but the president has resisted calls to expand the air campaign into Syria, where the militant organization also controls significant territory.
But now, on the heels of the second death of an American journalist in less than a month, Mr. Obama seemed to suggest that the U.S. mission no longer is merely to assist Iraqis and protect diplomatic facilities in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq.
"The bottom line is this: our objective is clear. That is to degrade and destroy ISIL so that it is no longer a threat not just to Iraq but also to the region and to the United States," Mr. Obama said. "In order for us to accomplish that, the first phase has been to make sure we've got an Iraqi government in place and that we are blunting the momentum that ISIL was carrying out. And the airstrikes have done that. But now what we need to do is make sure we've got the regional strategy in place that can support an ongoing effort not just in the air but on the ground to move that forward."
The president also said the U.S. will seek to build an effective "regional coalition" capable of defeating the Islamic State, a well-armed, highly capable force that controls a nation-sized swathe of territory across Iraq and Syria and has slaughtered Christians and other religious minorities.
On Tuesday, the terrorist organization released video footage showing the beheading of U.S. journalist Steven Sotloff, who worked as a freelancer for Time and Foreign Policy magazines. Sotloff, 31, went missing in Syria about a year ago.
In the video, Islamist militants forced him to criticize U.S. foreign policy and Mr. Obama specifically before killing him and promising more death and violence in the future.
The Sotloff video comes just weeks after the Islamic State also beheaded U.S. photojournalist James Foley, who also was captured by militants in Syria.
Mr. Obama said the government has determined that the video is real and is yet another clear example of the "barbarism" of the Islamic State.
Despite the group's military successes and high-profile killings of Americans, the president said the Islamic State has "already failed."
"They've failed because like people around the world, Americans are repulsed by their barbarism," he said. "It's not only that we're going to be bringing to justice those who perpetrated this terrible crime against [Foley and Sotloff], more broadly the United States will continue to lead a regional and international effort against the kind of barbaric and ultimately empty vision that ISIL represents. That's going to take some time but we're going to get it done. I'm confident of it."
