http://freebeacon.com/national-security/wh-on-defeating-islamic-state-our-strategy-is-reliant-on-something-that-is-not-yet-in-place/BY: Washington Free Beacon Staff
October 8, 2014 2:24 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yAMHqRuUD8White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said that the U.S. strategy for defeating the Islamic State (IS) is “reliant on something that is not yet in place.”
The missing element? A moderate Syrian opposition.
Responding to ABC’s Jon Karl, who said that IS (also known as ISIL or ISIS) was “moving forward, not backward” despite coalition airstrikes, Earnest emphasized that “the president has been clear that this is a longer-term proposition.”
“There is still a lot of work to be done,” Earnest said. “Our strategy is reliant upon something that is not yet in place, and that is a Syrian opposition that can take the fight to ISIL on the ground in Syria.”
When Karl pointed out that the 5,000 opposition forces being trained in Saudi Arabia would not be ready until Spring of 2015 at the earliest, Earnest referred him to the Department of Defense.
