The United States is “at war” with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria militants, also known as ISIS or ISIL, the White House and Pentagon officials declared on Friday.

During a daily briefing with reporters, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said the U.S. is at war with ISIS as it is at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates.

Like Us on Facebook

At the same day, Pentagon spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby made it clear that this is not the Iraq war the U.S. was fighting in 2002.

“Make no mistake, we know we are at war with ISIL, in the same way we are at war and remain to be with al Qaeda and its allies,” Kirby told reporters.

Pentagon and White House officials’ reaction came when U.S President Barack Obama pressed to clear up doubts on how he saw the conflict with the ISIL.

However, Secretary of State John Kerry refused to use the term “war” in referring to the U.S. campaign against the militants during his interview on Thursday.

The U.S. is not in a full-fledged war like before. “We are engaged in a counter-terrorism operation of a significant order. And counter-terrorism operations can take a long time, they go on,” Kerry said.

Kerry also added that he thinks “war” is the “wrong terminology and analogy”. Kerry pointed out that the U.S. was engaged in a “very significant global effort to curb terrorist activity.”

Along with Kerry’s comment, National Security Adviser Susan Rice also explained that the campaign is different from the previous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“There would be no American combat forces on the ground fighting so I think this is very different from that,” Rice added.

TagsUS, ISIS, ISIL, Counterterrorism campaign