President Barack Obama speaks on the phone to Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah from his desk at the White House in Washington, on Sept. 10, 2014, ahead of his address to the nation tonight regarding Iraq and Islamic State group militants.WASHINGTON – In a major reversal, President Barack Obama moved Wednesday to deepen the U.S. military role in the volatile Middle East, vowing to wage an unrelenting counterterror effort that will rely on airstrikes to target Islamic State fighters in both Iraq and Syria.
Obama was to outline his strategy, which also includes training and arming Syrian rebels, in a high-stakes address to the nation Wednesday night. In excerpts released in advance by the White House, Obama said the objective is to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State group.
“This counterterrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground,” Obama said, using an alternative name for the group.
Until now, the U.S. launched airstrikes against the group only within the borders of Iraq, whose government invited the American military to take that step. But officials have said in recent days that the Islamic State, which also controls territory in Syria, must be viewed as one group, not two separate entities split by a border.
Ahead of Obama’s remarks, congressional leaders grappled with whether to support his request to arm the Syrian opposition and if so, how to get such a measure through the fractured legislature.