US will destroy Islamic State: Obama

Asserting that the US will "destroy" Islamic State, President Barack Obama today sought to reassure terror-struck Americans that the country would overcome a "new phase" of threat but ruled out sending large scale troops on the ground to defeat the terror group.
In a rare address to the nation from his Oval Office of the White House aimed at calming a jittery country after a mass shooting in California that killed 14 Americans, Obama said the threat from terrorism is real, but the US will overcome it.
Obama said his strategy to destroy ISIS is designed and supported by US military commanders and counter-terrorism experts, together with 65 countries that have joined an American-led coalition targeting the terror outfit.

"We will destroy ISIL (another name for ISIS) and any other organisation that tries to harm us. Our success won't depend on tough talk, or abandoning our values or giving into fear. That's what groups like ISIL are hoping for. Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless. And by drawing upon every aspect of American power," he said.
In his speech, Obama once again ruled out sending large scale troops on the ground.
"We should not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq or Syria. That's what groups like ISIL want. They know they can't defeat us on the battlefield. ISIL fighters were part of the insurgency that we faced in Iraq," the US President said.

"But they also know that if we occupy foreign lands, they can maintain insurgencies for years, killing thousands of our troops and draining our resources, and using our presence to draw new recruits," he said.

"The strategy that we are using now -- air strikes, special forces and working with local forces who are fighting to regain control of their own country -- that is how we'll achieve a more sustainable victory, and it won't require us sending a new generation of Americans overseas to fight and die for another decade on foreign soil," he added.
Asserting that the ISIS does not speak for Islam, Obama urged Islamic leaders across the world to speak out against the terrorist outfit and its ideology.

Obama described the California incident in which a radicalised couple -- Pakistani national Tashfeen Malik, and her husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, of Pakistani-origin -- killed 14 people in San Bernardino as an "act of terrorism".
"So far, we have no evidence that the killers were
directed by a terrorist organisation overseas or that they were part of a broader conspiracy here at home," Obama said referring to the two suspects --
ISIS has hailed the couple as "soldiers" of its self- proclaimed caliphate.
This was Obama's only third speech from the Oval House in seven years. The previous two addresses, both in 2010, covered the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and the end of combat operations in Iraq.

Stating that the US military will continue to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary, he said, "In Iraq and Syria, air strikes are taking out ISIL leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, infrastructure."
"And since attacks in Paris, our closest allies, including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, have ramped up their contributions to our military campaign which will help us accelerate our effort to destroy ISIL," said the US President.
"Second, we will continue to provide training and equipment to tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground so that we take away their safe havens," he said.

In both countries, the US is deploying special operations forces that can accelerate offensive.
"We've stepped up this effort since the attacks in Paris, and will continue to invest more in approaches that are working on the ground. Third, we're working with friends and allies to stop ISIL's operations, to disrupt plots, cut off their financing, and prevent them from recruiting more fighters," he said.
"And we constantly examine our strategy to determine when additional steps are needed to get the job done," he said.
Obama said if the Republican-majority Congress believes, that the US is at war with ISIS, it should go ahead and vote to authorise the continued use of military force against these terrorists. Obama said he believes that the United States is at war with ISIS.

"For over a year, I have ordered our military to take thousands of air strikes against ISIL targets. I think it's time for Congress to vote to demonstrate that the American people are united and committed to this fight," he said, but ruled out sending large-scale troops on the ground.
Obama asserted that the Islamic State terror group does not speak for Islam and urged Muslims around the world to reject its ideology.
"ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death. And they account for a tiny fraction of a more than a billion Muslims around the world, including millions of patriotic Muslim-Americans who reject their hateful ideology," he said.

However, Obama said this does not mean denying the fact that an extremist ideology has spread within some Muslim communities. It is a real problem that Muslims must confront without excuse, he asserted.