President Obama said momentum in the war against terrorism is on the side of the U.S.-led 66-nation coalition fighting the Islamic State.
“We have momentum and we intend to keep that momentum,” Obama said after convening his national security team at the CIA’s Langley, Va., headquarters. The Sunni terrorist organization hasn’t had a single major offensive in nearly a year, he added.
“For ISIL’s leadership, it has been a bad few months,” Obama said, using his preferred acronym for the Sunni-led terrorist organization. The U.S.-led air campaign and ground forces have “taken out” ISIL’s chemical weapons chief, its top financier in Iraq and its overall finance chief, among others, in the last few months, Obama said.
“Everyday ISIL leaders wake up and realize it could be their last,” Obama said. Noting the recent recapture of a key Syrian town by U.S.-backed anti-government forces, “the ISIL core in Syria and Iraq continues to shrink,” he said.
Without offering a timetable, Obama said Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. ground advisers and equipment, are preparing to launch an offensive to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
The coalition daily disrupts ISIL’s oil operations and communications, Obama said.
“Every dollar we deny them, means one less dollar to pay their fighters and fund” its terrorism, he said.
Obama also pledged to follow ISIL fighters and their leaders wherever they spread, specifically in Libya and Somalia and anywhere they try attacking Americans.
“We are focused and we are going to win,” Obama declared. “We are going to be just fine.”
