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Obama
orders
airstrikes
in Syria
for
first
time
By JULIE
PACE
AP White
House
Correspondent
WASHINGTON
(AP) --
Opening
a new
military
front in
the
Middle
East,
President
Barack
Obama
authorized
U.S.
airstrikes
inside
Syria
for the
first
time
Wednesday
night,
along
with
expanded
strikes
in Iraq
as part
of "a
steady,
relentless
effort"
to root
out
Islamic
State
extremists
and
their
spreading
reign of
terror.
"We will
hunt
down
terrorists
who
threaten
our
country,
wherever
they
are,"
Obama
declared
in a
prime-time
address
to the
nation
from the
White
House.
"This is
a core
principle
of my
presidency:
If you
threaten
America,
you will
find no
safe
haven."
Obama
announced
that he
was
dispatching
nearly
500 more
U.S.
troops
to
advise
and
assist
Iraqi
security
forces,
as well
as
conduct
intelligence
and
reconnaissance
flights,
bringing
the
total
number
of
American
forces
sent
there
this
summer
to more
than
1,500.
He also
urged
Congress
anew to
authorize
a
program
to train
and arm
Syrian
rebels
who are
fighting
both the
Islamic
State
militants
and
Syrian
President
Bashar
Assad.
Obama's
plans
amounted
to a
striking
shift
for a
president
who rose
to
political
prominence
in part
because
of his
early
opposition
to the
Iraq
war.
While in
office,
he has
steadfastly
sought
to wind
down
American
military
campaigns
in the
Middle
East and
avoid
new wars
-
particularly
in
Syria, a
country
where
the
chaos of
an
intractable
civil
war has
given
the
Islamic
State
space to
thrive
and move
freely
across
the
border
with
Iraq.
Speaking
on the
eve of
the
anniversary
of the
Sept.
11,
2001,
attacks,
Obama's
plans
were
also an
admission
that
years of
American-led
war in
the
Middle
East
have not
quelled
the
terror
threat
emanating
from the
region.
Obama
insisted
that his
plan to
"degrade
and
ultimately
destroy"
the
Islamic
State
militants
would
not
involve
returning
U.S.
combat
troops
to the
Middle
East.
Even so,
he
acknowledged
that
"any
time we
take
military
action,
there
are
risks
involved,
especially
to the
servicemen
and
women
who
carry
out
these
missions."
"But I
want the
American
people
to
understand
how this
effort
will be
different
from the
wars in
Iraq and
Afghanistan.
It will
not
involve
American
combat
troops
fighting
on
foreign
soil,"
he
added.
The
president's
speech,
which
lasted
about 15
minutes,
followed
a summer
of
deliberation
at the
White
House
over how
to
respond
to the
violent
Islamic
State
militants.
While
administration
officials
have
said
they are
not
aware of
a
credible
threat
of a
potential
attack
by the
militants
in the
U.S.,
they say
the
group
poses
risks to
Americans
and
interests
across
the
Middle
East.
Officials
are also
concerned
about
the
prospect
that
Westerners,
including
Americans,
who have
joined
the
militant
group
could
return
to their
home
countries
to
launch
attacks.
In
recent
weeks,
the
militants
have
released
videos
depicting
the
beheading
of two
American
journalists
in
Syria.
The
violent
images
appear
to have
had an
impact
on a
formerly
war-weary
public,
with
multiple
polls in
recent
days
showing
that the
majority
of
Americans
support
airstrikes
in both
Iraq and
Syria.
The U.S.
began
launching
limited
airstrikes
against
Islamic
State
targets
in Iraq
earlier
this
summer
at the
request
of that
country's
former
prime
minister.
But
Obama
vowed
that he
would
not
commit
the U.S.
to a
deeper
military
campaign
until
Iraq
formed a
new
government
that
allowed
greater
participation
from all
sects, a
step
Iraqi
leaders
took
Tuesday.
Officials
said
Obama
plans to
proceed
with
both the
broader
airstrikes
in Iraq
and the
strikes
in Syria
without
seeking
new
authorization
from
Congress.
Instead,
he is to
act
under a
use-of-force
authorization
Congress
passed
in the
days
after
9/11 to
give
President
George
W. Bush
the
ability
to go
after
those
who
perpetrated
the
terror
attacks.
Obama
has
previously
called
for that
authorization
to be
repealed,
but he
has also
used it
as
support
for
strikes
against
terror
targets
in Yemen
and
Somalia.
Obama
said his
approach
in Syria
is
modeled
after
those
long-running
U.S.
counterterrorism
campaigns.
But it
is
different
in
important
ways,
starting
with the
fact
that it
marks
the
first
time
since
9/11
that a
U.S.
president
has
authorized
the
bombing
of
terror
targets
in
another
nation
without
seeking
permission
or at
least
notifying
it in
advance.
House
Speaker
John
Boehner,
R-Ohio,
praised
Obama
for
acknowledging
the
"grave
and
growing
threat"
that
Islamic
extremists
pose,
but he
said
Obama
was
coming
to that
conclusion
far too
late.
"He has
finally
begun to
make the
case the
nation
has
needed
him to
make for
quite
some
time:
that
destroying
this
terrorist
threat
requires
decisive
action
and must
be the
highest
priority
for the
United
States
and
other
nations
of the
free
world,"
Boehner
said.
As if to
answer
the
criticism
that he
has been
too
cautious,
Obama
declared
of his
plan:
"This is
American
leadership
at its
best."
Obama is
seeking
authorization
from
Congress
for a
Pentagon-led
effort
to train
and arm
more
moderate
elements
of the
Syrian
opposition.
Even
before
his
remarks,
congressional
leaders
were
grappling
with
whether
to
support
that
request
and if
so, how
to get
such a
measure
through
the
fractured
legislature
before
the
November
elections.
The
White
House
wants
Congress
to
include
the
authorization
in a
temporary
funding
measure
lawmakers
are
expected
to vote
on
before
adjourning
later
this
month.
Republicans
have
made no
commitment
to
support
the
request
and the
House
GOP has
so far
not
included
the
measure
in the
funding
legislation.
A
spokesman
for
Senate
Majority
Leader
Harry
Reid
said the
Nevada
Democrat
might
opt to
seek
separate
legislation.
While
the CIA
currently
runs a
small
program
to arm
the
rebels,
the new
version
would be
more
robust.
Obama
asked
Congress
earlier
this
year to
approve
a $500
million
program
to
expand
the
effort
and put
it under
Pentagon
control,
but the
request
stalled
on
Capitol
Hill.
Some of
Obama's
own
advisers,
including
former
Secretary
of State
Hillary
Rodham
Clinton,
pressed
him to
arm the
rebels
early in
their
fight
against
Assad.
But
Obama
resisted,
arguing
that
there
was too
much
uncertainty
about
the
composition
of the
rebel
forces.
He also
expressed
concern
about
adding
more
firepower
to an
already
bloody
civil
war.
The
White
House
announced
Wednesday
that it
was also
providing
$25
million
in
immediate
military
assistance
to the
Iraqi
government
as part
of
efforts
to
combat
the
Islamic
State.
The
Treasury
Department
will
also
step up
efforts
to
undermine
the
Islamic
State
group's
finances.
David
Cohen,
Treasury's
undersecretary
for
terrorism
and
financial
intelligence,
wrote in
a blog
post
that the
U.S.
would be
working
with
other
countries,
especially
Gulf
states,
to cut
off the
group's
external
funding
networks
and its
access
to the
global
financial
system.
The U.S.
has been
pressing
allies
in
Europe,
the
Middle
East and
elsewhere
to help
with
efforts
to
degrade
the
terror
group.
France's
foreign
minister
said
Wednesday
that his
country
was
ready to
take
part in
airstrikes
against
extremist
fighters
in Iraq
if
needed.
And the
German
government
announced
that it
was
sending
assault
rifles,
ammunition,
anti-tank
weapons
and
armored
vehicles
to
Kurdish
forces
in Iraq
fighting,
breaking
with
Berlin's
previous
reluctance
to send
weapons
into
conflicts.
Secretary
of State
John
Kerry,
who met
with
Iraqi
leaders
in
Baghdad
Wednesday,
was also
scheduled
to
attend a
conference
with
Arab
leaders
Thursday
to
discuss
their
role in
confronting
the
militants.
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