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Obama cites Kirkuk and Kobani as examples of success against ISIS
[RUDAW.NET] In a speech at the Pentagon on Monday US President Barack ObamaReady to Rule from Day One... said that progress has been made in the fight against the Islamic State ...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allaharound with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not reallyMoslems.... (ISIS), with coalition "Altogether, ISIL has lost over a quarter of the populated areas it had seized in Iraq," said Obama. "ISIL's strategic weaknesses are real." Obama said that local groups on the ground have proven effective in pushing back ISIS in many areas, mentioning Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... Dam, Tikrit, and Kobani as examples. "In the past year we've seen when we have effective partners on the ground, ISIL can be pushed back," Obama said. Obama vowed that all elements of American power would be involved in fighting the krazed killer organization. The US President said that ISIS is posing a threat to all countries in the region and therefore all nations need to do more in order to defeat the group militarily and ideologically. "This is not simply a military effort," he said. "Ideologies are not defeated by guns. They're defeated with better ideas." He added: "In order for us to defeat terrorist groups like ISIL and al-Qaeda, we must discredit their ideology. This broader challenge of countering violent extremism," Obama who said that the US is not in war with Islam, said that efforts should be made to stem the flow of imported muscle into Iraq and Syria. "Ideologies are not defeated with guns, they are defeated by better ideas. We will never be at war with Islam," he said. Obama said that the US has stepped up its fight against ISIS' online recruitment efforts and he encouraged countries with large Moslem populations to increase economic opportunities for young people to prevent them from joining radical groups. "This larger battle for hearts and minds is going to be a generational struggle," Obama said. Posted by: Fred 2015-07-08 |
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