Obama to announce new ISIS push this week

As the United States expanded airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq, President Barack Obama said on Sunday he will be announcing the next phase of the fight in a speech later this week.

As the United States expanded airstrikes against ISIS in Iraq, President Barack Obama said on Sunday he will be announcing the next phase of the fight in a speech later this week.

“We are going to be able to not just blunt the momentum of ISIL,” Obama said in an interview on Meet the Press, a Sunday talk show on NBC.

“We are going to systematically degrade their capabilities. We're going to shrink the territory that they control. And ultimately we're going to defeat them.”

The New York Times said the planned speech suggests that Obama may be moving closer to a decision on whether to expand the month-old air campaign against ISIS into Syria,

It’s been hitting ISIS only in Iraq, expanding its mission, in the latest development, to carry out airstrikes around Haditha Dam, to prevent it from falling into the hands of ISIS fighters.

“We will continue to conduct operations as needed in support of the Iraqi Security Forces and the Sunni tribes, working with those forces securing Haditha Dam,” said the Pentagon.

But in his Sunday interview Obama was clear, once again, the new phase will not involve American boots on the ground. “This is not the equivalent of the Iraq war,’ Obama said.

“What this is is similar to the kinds of counterterrorism campaigns that we've been engaging in consistently over the last five, six, seven years. ... We're not looking at sending in 100,000 American troops.”

But, the president said it was time to start going on “some offense”. He has been under pressure from lawmakers and experts on both sides to do more.