Obama to reveal IS strategy: ‘This is not the equivalent of the Iraq war’

U.S. President Barack Obama says the threat posed by the Islamic militant group in Iraq and Syria is “serious,” but the administration’s strategy to defeat them will not involve U.S. ground troops. Obama said he is planning to outline the U.S. strategy on the Islamic State— also known as ISIS and ISIL—in an address to the nation on Wednesday, a day before the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Obama said while they do not pose a threat to the United States now, “they can evolve.” While there is no “immediate intelligence” that indicates an IS attack on the United States, Obama said, the group has clearly “metastasized.”

The strategy both for Iraq and for Syria is that we will hunt down [IS] members and assets wherever they are.

U.S. President Barack Obama

The deployment of U.S. troops, he said, would be a “profound mistake.” During a wide-ranging interview, Obama addressed other international issues affecting the United States, including the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa. Obama also defended his decision to delay any executive action on immigration, saying the border crisis—with thousands of unaccompanied children streaming into the United States from Mexico—changed his strategy.

The truth of the matter is that the politics did shift midsummer because of that problem.

Barack Obama

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