President Barack Obama told Americans yesterday that he had authorized U.S. airstrikes for the first time in Syria and more attacks in Iraq in a broad
escalation of a campaign against the Islamic State militant group.
Obama´s decision to launch attacks inside Syria, which is emmashed in a three-year civil war, showed the seriousness of the threat American officials see from the self styled “Islamic State”.
Obama laid out his emerging plan for tackling the group in a widely anticipated White House speech, “Our objective is clear: we will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counter-terrorism strategy,” Obama said, using an acronym for the reviled terror organisation.
He said he would hunt down Islamic State militants “wherever they are.” “That means I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq. This is a core principle of my presidency: if you threaten America, you will find no safe haven,” he said.
