President Obama said on Monday “we are hitting ISIL” harder than ever, referring to the battle against the Islamic State, during an appearance at the Pentagon.

Obama, using harsher language than normal to describe the military campaign and referring to Islamic State leaders as as “thugs, thieves and killers,” announced that he was dispatching Defense Secretary Ash Carter, who was already heading to the Middle East for the annual pre-planned holiday visit to troops, to encourage more regional allies to join or step up their efforts against the terror group.