This is what has been leaked to the press...why he is bothering with a speech is beyond me...
http://washingtonexaminer.com/obama-to-promise-no-combat-troops-for-fight-against-islamic-state-terrorists/article/2553188Obama to promise no 'combat troops' for anti-ISIS fight
Obama to promise no 'combat troops' for anti-ISIS fight
By Susan Crabtree | September 10, 2014 | 6:30 pm
President Obama plans in his primetime speech Wednesday night to announce the support of a broad international coalition in U.S.-led efforts to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
“So tonight, with a new Iraqi government in place, and following consultations with allies abroad and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat,” he plans to say, according to brief excerpts of the speech the White House released early.
“Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy,” Obama plans to stress.
Although Obama plans to pursue ISIS “wherever they exist,” another point of the speech will be to differentiate the commitment to fight ISIS from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and to try to show that the latest effort is consistent with other Obama administration counter-terrorism policies in places like Somalia and Yemen.
Obama will clearly pledge not to commit American combat troops to the mission against the extremist Islamic group.
“But I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan,” he will say, according to the excerpts. “It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil.”
“This counter-terrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out [ISIS] wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground. This strategy of taking out terrorists who threaten us, while supporting partners on the front lines, is one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years.”
