President Obama said the U.S. and 65 other countries fighting the Islamic State are making slow but steady progress toward destroying the terrorist group, and said he told his national security team Thursday to increase the pressure even more.
“The fight against ISIL will remain difficult, but we will continue to draw on all elements of our national power, military, intelligence, diplomacy, homeland security, law enforcement and the strength of our communities,” he told reporters at the State Department, using his preferrd acronym for the group. “And I am confident that we will prevail.”
“We will destroy this barbaric terrorist organization, and continue to stand with people across the region who seek a better and a safer future,” he added. He didn’t take questions from the press.
Obama said the situation in Syria and Iraq is “one of the most complex the world has seen in recent times.” But he said U.S. airstrikes continue to weaken the Islamic State.
.@POTUS delivers a statement on the global campaign to degrade and destroy #ISIL. https://t.co/5vFiseSOZv
— Department of State (@StateDept) February 25, 2016
“About two months ago, at the Pentagon, I said that we had to squeeze ISIL’s core in Syria and Iraq, it’s heart, to make it harder for these killers to pump their terror and the propaganda to the rest of the world,” he said. “And over the last two months, the good news is, we’ve done exactly that.”
“Today I directed my team to continue accelerating this campaign on all fronts,” he said.
He said Islamic State fighters are learning there’s “no safe haven,” and that the group hasn’t had a successful “major” offensive operation since the summer in Syria or Iraq.
“The fight against ISIL will remain difficult, but we will continue to draw on all elements of our national power, military, intelligence, diplomacy, homeland security, law enforcement and the strength of our communities,” Obama said. “And I am confident that we will prevail.”
Obama said his team discussed the next steps in the fight, and that coalition forces have been attacking the group’s financial and oil infrastructure.
