Obama Says Fight Against ISIS Will Be A Long-Term Campaign

[Webster]

CBS News: Obama says fight against ISIS will be a "long-term campaign"
Excerpt...

President Obama said Tuesday that the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, also known as ISIL) will be a "long-term campaign" that will have both successes and setbacks.

"There are not quick fixes involved. We are still in the early stages. As with any military effort there will be days of progress and there are going to be periods of setback, but our coalition is united behind this long-term effort," the president said. "Our nations agree that ISIL poses a significant threat to the people of Iraq and Syria. It poses a threat to surrounding countries and because of the numbers of foreign fighters that are being attracted and the chaos that ISIL is creating in the region ultimately it will pose a threat beyond the Middle East."

Mr. Obama's remarks came after he attended a meeting with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey and the military leadership of 21 nations that are part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS.

The 21 countries represented at the meeting: Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Netherlands, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, the United Emirates and the United Kingdom.

The Islamic militants continue to gain more ground in Iraq and Syria in spite of coalition airstrikes intended to stop their advances and target their command and control centers. ISIS has captured an Iraqi army camp in Hit, west of Baghdad, as they edge closer to the Iraqi capital, and they threaten to overtake the town of Kobani on the Turkey-Syria border.

The coalition launched additional airstrikes in and around Kobani Tuesday targeting ISIS vehicles, supply depots, staging points and military positions. The fighting has caused more than 200,000 people to flee across the border into Turkey. Still, CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports the U.S. is not necessarily committed to saving the city.

Mr. Obama said Tuesday that the coalition partners are "deeply concerned" about the situation in Kobani and promised that airstrikes will continue.

But he said the fight against the group must go beyond military engagement.

"This is not a classic army in which we defeat them on the battlefield and then they ultimately surrender. What we're also fighting is an ideological strain of extremism that has taken root in too many parts of the region," Mr. Obama said. "This cannot simply be a military campaign. This has to be a campaign that includes all the dimensions of our power. We have to do a better job communicating an alternative vision for those who are currently attracted to the fighting inside Iraq and Syria."

...for what its' worth, Pres. Obama makes a good point there: for all the boots on the ground that we could put there, it won't change a thing unless you can change the mindset of the people living in that part of the world...and that's easier said than done.

Thoughts?

 

[WHO IS SERAFIN]

Did our dear leader say that while on his 200th round of golf. But digress. I keep saying it but until we unleash our military with it full might and no chains holding back our generals to win a war until whats left of our enemy is on there knees begging for it to end no more troops anywhere.

 

[Dee]

CBS News: Obama says fight against ISIS will be a "long-term campaign"
Excerpt...

President Obama said Tuesday that the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, also known as ISIL) will be a "long-term campaign" that will have both successes and setbacks.

"There are not quick fixes involved. We are still in the early stages. As with any military effort there will be days of progress and there are going to be periods of setback, but our coalition is united behind this long-term effort," the president said. "Our nations agree that ISIL poses a significant threat to the people of Iraq and Syria. It poses a threat to surrounding countries and because of the numbers of foreign fighters that are being attracted and the chaos that ISIL is creating in the region ultimately it will pose a threat beyond the Middle East."

Mr. Obama's remarks came after he attended a meeting with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey and the military leadership of 21 nations that are part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting ISIS.

The 21 countries represented at the meeting: Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Netherlands, New Zealand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, the United Emirates and the United Kingdom.

The Islamic militants continue to gain more ground in Iraq and Syria in spite of coalition airstrikes intended to stop their advances and target their command and control centers. ISIS has captured an Iraqi army camp in Hit, west of Baghdad, as they edge closer to the Iraqi capital, and they threaten to overtake the town of Kobani on the Turkey-Syria border.

The coalition launched additional airstrikes in and around Kobani Tuesday targeting ISIS vehicles, supply depots, staging points and military positions. The fighting has caused more than 200,000 people to flee across the border into Turkey. Still, CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin reports the U.S. is not necessarily committed to saving the city.

Mr. Obama said Tuesday that the coalition partners are "deeply concerned" about the situation in Kobani and promised that airstrikes will continue.

But he said the fight against the group must go beyond military engagement.

"This is not a classic army in which we defeat them on the battlefield and then they ultimately surrender. What we're also fighting is an ideological strain of extremism that has taken root in too many parts of the region," Mr. Obama said. "This cannot simply be a military campaign. This has to be a campaign that includes all the dimensions of our power. We have to do a better job communicating an alternative vision for those who are currently attracted to the fighting inside Iraq and Syria."

...for what its' worth, Pres. Obama makes a good point there: for all the boots on the ground that we could put there, it won't change a thing unless you can change the mindset of the people living in that part of the world...and that's easier said than done.

Thoughts?

I completely agree. This "fight" isn't going to be easily won. Bush was so incredibly wrong to throw our forces at a fight we weren't going to win in the time frame that was set, and it still won't be an easy win for a very long time (if ever). It's not up to us to change the way other countries run their governments. Webster is right in that so many aspects of life in certain countries need to be changed. Mindsets need to be altered, certain priorities need to become more prominent to establish peace, everyone must take a stance on demonizing terrorism and fight to end it--not just us or our allies. There is no way in hell sending over our military will wipe out every last terrorist. Because if even only one exists, it'll spread rampantly again, weak and influential human beings easily convinced that death is the only answer. That is the nature of the enemy we're dealing with. And until the US begins to realize that, until the government pulls its head out of its ass thinking we can "end" this in one fell swoop, nothing is going to change.

 

[DrLeftover]

Oh, come on, all of you haters... sing with us now....

[video=dailymotion]http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6qf5b_obama-girl-song-from-globalgifter_shortfilms

 

[Webster]

I completely agree. This "fight" isn't going to be easily won. Bush was so incredibly wrong to throw our forces at a fight we weren't going to win in the time frame that was set, and it still won't be an easy win for a very long time (if ever). It's not up to us to change the way other countries run their governments. Webster is right in that so many aspects of life in certain countries need to be changed. Mindsets need to be altered, certain priorities need to become more prominent to establish peace, everyone must take a stance on demonizing terrorism and fight to end it--not just us or our allies. There is no way in hell sending over our military will wipe out every last terrorist. Because if even only one exists, it'll spread rampantly again, weak and influential human beings easily convinced that death is the only answer. That is the nature of the enemy we're dealing with. And until the US begins to realize that, until the government pulls its head out of its ass thinking we can "end" this in one fell swoop, nothing is going to change.

Dee's right; this is going to take not just military action but also diplomatic work between countries, some of whom we're not particularly fond of (such as Iran, for instance) but its' also take a major cultural shift within that part of the world, one that says to the extremists, "No more!"..in other words, besides everything else, there's going to have to be a Reformation w/in the Islamic world before anything substantive can ever be done.

Of course, it would also help if the United States would stop poking its' nose into the affairs of countries around the world, especially in the Middle East; God knows we've done enough damage over there since the 1950's, when we began the whole cycle of interference by helping to overthrow Iran's democratically elected government (which, by the way, helped eventually lead to the theocratic hell that Iran currently is atm).

 

[Webster]

Did our dear leader say that while on his 200th round of golf. But digress. I keep saying it but until we unleash our military with it full might and no chains holding back our generals to win a war until whats left of our enemy is on there knees begging for it to end no more troops anywhere.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Liberty: if you're so fired up to go bomb 'em into the Stone Age, go put on a uniform, grab a rifle and get over there...just don't drag the rest of us over there with you!

 

[Dee]

The fact of the matter is that we're not just fighting one country. It is several countries and several thousands, tens of thousands of people from areas all over the world who would love to see the US and other countries who operate under the idea of freedom fall to their knees. It's like trying to fight off bed bugs. You think you make have gotten rid of them, and they might be destroyed for a small period of time and in certain areas of the house, but then they show up again and they're hard to spot because they're so small.

We could send as many troops over there as we wanted to, as many planes, as many tanks, as many trucks, as many everything we utilize in the military, and we could unload everything we've got and we still wouldn't get rid of every single terrorist this world has and will come to know. It's not just an old man in a suit deviously making plans behind his desk. It's the children who are growing up in a city being littered by missiles. It's the little boy being handed an M-16 and being indoctrinated with the belief that people want them dead, that they want their land and their freedoms, and that people want to take their beliefs and their religion away. It's the college-age kid being drawn into the radical ideals and joining in on the fight for what they believe is right, people attending school all over the world, people who live in different countries who face different hardships who are turned every day to the notion that terrorism is the end-all-be-all to the problem the WORLD is facing.

Let's not forget who is part of the problem, and let's not forget that we are NOT going to be the solution.

 

[DarkFury]

Did our dear leader say that while on his 200th round of golf. But digress. I keep saying it but until we unleash our military with it full might and no chains holding back our generals to win a war until whats left of our enemy is on there knees begging for it to end no more troops anywhere.

You want a world plan? Fine, you kill all the muslims in Iraq and re-name it Kurdistan. We DO get along with them. Iran has been poking Russia so you let the Russians kill all the Iranians and re-name it Persia, which it was called before.

At this point BOTH America and Russia have ALL there oil needs for 100 years set. So the Saudis are force to sell to the 3rd world. And the price of oil falls.

You let Israel take Lebanon for it's soil and the ability to grow crops. That leaves Syria for all the militants who can shut the hell up or get blown up. Because nobody will need anything Syria has.

We need to kill at least five million muslims today. And THAT will shut them up.

 

[+paradox]

there's no reason for the usa to send an army on the ground on a war-zone when the usa don't even have to... when they can just attack by sea and air, and destroy a country if the usa really wanted to... the reason why this war on terrorism is the greatest war and greatest deception, just like the war on drugs, is due to it is a type of war that can be played out in many different ways and scenarios... it can be a short air attack that would just kill anything and everything for miles, guaranteed... or a long dragged out war that will cost american lives... either way, the elites are cashing in, the military industrial complex is as well... also, all the major key companies and organizations that keep getting the support of the elites...

 

[Webster]

Did our dear leader say that while on his 200th round of golf. But digress. I keep saying it but until we unleash our military with it full might and no chains holding back our generals to win a war until whats left of our enemy is on there knees begging for it to end no more troops anywhere.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Liberty: if you're so fired up to go bomb 'em into the Stone Age, go put on a uniform, grab a rifle and get over there...just don't drag the rest of us over there with you!

Did our dear leader say that while on his 200th round of golf. But digress. I keep saying it but until we unleash our military with it full might and no chains holding back our generals to win a war until whats left of our enemy is on there knees begging for it to end no more troops anywhere.

You want a world plan? Fine, you kill all the muslims in Iraq and re-name it Kurdistan. We DO get along with them. Iran has been poking Russia so you let the Russians kill all the Iranians and re-name it Persia, which it was called before.

At this point BOTH America and Russia have ALL there oil needs for 100 years set. So the Saudis are force to sell to the 3rd world. And the price of oil falls.

You let Israel take Lebanon for it's soil and the ability to grow crops. That leaves Syria for all the militants who can shut the hell up or get blown up. Because nobody will need anything Syria has.

We need to kill at least five million muslims today. And THAT will shut them up.

After reading the above, Fury, I'll simply repeat what I said earlier to Liberty: if you're so fired up to go bomb 'em into the Stone Age, go put on a uniform, grab a rifle and get over there...just don't drag the rest of us over there with you....meanwhile, the rest of us will trying be trying to figure out how not to follow along.