CHINA TOPIX

11/22/2024 03:19:37 am

Make CT Your Homepage

Obama Asked Why He Has Not Retaliated Against ISIS Yet

President Barack Obama

(Photo : REUTERS/Larry Downing) President Barack Obama addresses the ISIS issue but did not explain further what the next moves will be during his White House Address in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House.

The "Second Message to America" has been released on Tuesday and it showed the alleged beheading of the other American journalist, Steven Sotloff, but there has been no response yet from the American government.

According to analysts, the ISIS militants are provoking U.S. President Barack Obama into expanding military forces against the militants.

Like Us on Facebook

According to Michael Scheuer, who previously headed the CIA's Bin Laden unit, it is very important to the militants to have the United States expand and let more military forces on the ground. He added that it raises money for their group as well as recruiting new members.

Scheuer has come into a conclusion that these militants have planned this and had gathered information that makes them sure that the U.S. will not hang around long enough just to defeat the militants.

Obama did say in his White House Address last week that he believes the militants would only be defuse using a long-term strategy that is based on building coalitions of both local and regional actors. Obama noted that immediate actions using U.S. forces would not do the trick.

He added that they have designed a campaign of stopping the spreading of the group rather than focusing on defeating them.

There have been oppositions in the White House regarding Obama's moves. Eliot Engel, the Senior Democratic member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in an interview with CNN that the beheading of another journalist is the exact reason why United States needs to go after ISIS. He added that U.S. could not just let them wreak havoc.

Engel continued to voice his opinion saying that air strikes should already be launched in Syria. Obama talked about holding the air strikes last week.

Another expert has chimed in regarding the videos released. Stephen Walt, a professor of international affairs at Harvard University, said that the videos might be appalling but they do not have a strategic impact. Walt noted that the killings do not make the ISIS dangerous overall. He noted that the people should just remain calm and not be influenced by the killings and other acts of violence.

In the video released, the executioner said that he is back because of Obama's arrogant foreign policies imposed against the Islamic State. The executioner added that the beheading is due to the bombings against the possessed territories of the group.

In last month's video, which allegedly showed the decapitating of James Foley, the executioner said that United States should attack them with soldiers and not with drones. He added that they will raise their flag in the White House.

Real Time Analytics