For the second week in a row, President Obama’s weekly address to the nation focused on his effort to defeat the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.
Obama promised to put forward a strong counter-terrorism strategy with the help of more than 40 other countries, but without committing U.S. combat forces to the effort.
“I won’t commit our troops to fighting another ground war in Iraq, or in Syria,” Obama said. “It’s more effective to use our capabilities to help partners on the ground secure their own country’s futures. We will use our air power. We will train and equip our partners. We will advise and we will assist. And we’ll lead a broad coalition of nations who have a stake in this fight.”
Obama’s address comes ahead of his planned address to the United Nations on Wednesday, where the fight against the Islamic State will be a dominant issue.
The president acknowledged the “bipartisan support” in Congress this week that gave him the authority to use the U.S. military to train and equip so-called moderate Syrian rebels to fight the Islamic State.
The vote, in which a majority of Democrats and Republicans backed the mission, sends a signal to the world that America is “united” in the fight against the Islamic terrorists, Obama said.
But, in a nod to polls showing Americans do not want a new U.S. ground war in the Middle East, Obama repeated a commitment to keeping out U.S. troops.
“This isn’t America versus ISIL,” Obama said, using the term the White House uses for the Islamic State. “This is the people of that region versus ISIL. It’s the world versus ISIL.”
Obama said more than 40 nations have offered to assist in the broad campaign against the Islamic State.
The president pledged to “continue to rally the world against this threat” next week at the United Nations.
