Obama to expand airstrikes to Syria, vows to destroy Islamic State 'wherever they exist'

WASHINGTON - President Obama on Wednesday said he would launch airstrikes in Syria against the Islamic State and expand strikes in Iraq, pledging a U.S.-led coalition to destroy the extremists "wherever they exist," as he expanded the U.S. role in an armed conflict he spent years trying to avoid.

"With a new Iraqi government in place, and following consultations with allies abroad and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat," he said from the White House.

"Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy," Obama said of the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS.

He also renewed his request to Congress to arm and train moderate Syrian rebel forces to counter the militants inside Syria. Senior administration officials said Saudi Arabia has offered to host the training.

The House planned to vote on the $500 million request next week; the Senate was weighing how or when to take it up.

The campaign in Syria and wider strikes in Iraq would dramatically broaden what had been a limited U.S. mission to protect efforts to help refugees threatened by the Islamic State inside Iraq. While sending U.S. air power into the skies over Syria, Obama said he also would escalate airstrikes in Iraq, "beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions, so that we're hitting ISIL targets as Iraqi forces go on offense."

Obama said he was ordering 475 American forces to bolster the nearly 1,000 U.S. troops who are advising Iraqi forces at joint operations centers in Baghdad and Irbil. But he stressed anew that he would not commit U.S. combat troops and would instead use U.S. air power to help on-the-ground fighting by other forces.

"I want the American people to understand how this effort will be different from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan," said Obama, who campaigned in 2008 vowing to end the war in Iraq. "It will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil."

Officials, who have cautioned that defeating the Islamic State could take years, gave no timetable on when the Syrian strikes might occur, saying the United States would not "telegraph" its intent.

Obama likened the approach to fighting the extremist group - using targeted military airstrikes to support other countries' ground troops - to "one that we have successfully pursued in Yemen and Somalia for years."

"After 13 years of war since 9/11, the decision by the president to take on a new fight against this enemy was not an easy one," Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said earlier Wednesday in a speech to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Obama explained the need to change course, saying that while the Islamic State does not yet threaten the U.S. homeland, it is a growing threat to the Mideast, Europe, and potentially the U.S.

"If left unchecked, these terrorists could pose a growing threat beyond that region, including to the United States," he said. "Our intelligence community believes that thousands of foreigners - including Europeans and some Americans - have joined them in Syria and Iraq. Trained and battle-hardened, these fighters could try to return to their home countries and carry out deadly attacks."

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D., N.J.) agreed in a statement, saying: "President Obama showed important leadership in laying out an initial plan to confront the threat from ISIL before this barbaric group has the ability to execute a large-scale attack against U.S. interests at home or abroad."

The U.S. began airstrikes in Iraq on Aug. 8 to protect American personnel and facilities, to support humanitarian efforts, and to back Iraqi forces. As of Wednesday, it had conducted 154 strikes.

Obama had long sought to minimize U.S. involvement in Syria, where a civil war pits President Bashar al-Assad's Iran-backed forces against the Islamic State and weaker insurgent groups, including an al-Qaeda affiliate, the Nusra Front. Most of the groups also are fighting the Islamic State.

But Obama was forced to reconsider after an acknowledgment by top U.S. officials that the Islamic State can't be crushed without addressing its presence in Syria. He authorized the first U.S. surveillance flights of Islamic State targets in Syria and launched an effort to build an international coalition to fight the group through military, humanitarian, and other means.

Senior administration officials insisted the strikes would not boost Assad because he has little sway in the Islamic State strongholds in Syria.

While Obama did not seek congressional approval for the expanding airstrikes, he did ask Congress to act on his standing request for lethal aid to arm moderate Syrian rebels.

House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) interrupted a series of floor votes Wednesday to announce that Obama's request would be included in a budget bill that lawmakers are to vote on to keep the federal government operating beyond Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.

The vote was supposed to occur Thursday, but McCarthy announced that it would be postponed until next week because lawmakers are scheduled to receive a closed-door briefing from White House officials Thursday.

Philadelphia-area lawmakers expressed support Wednesday night.

In a statement after Obama's address, Rep. Pat Meehan (R., Pa.) said: "ISIS isn't just a threat to the Middle East. It's a threat to the United States and all of our allies in the West. It's a cancer that must be destroyed before it can spread, and it's the responsibility of all nations to oppose it."

And from Rep. Jim Gerlach (R., Pa.): "I am pleased with the President's remarks and agree that we need to immediately expand efforts to degrade and destroy ISIS through an array of U.S. air power and coalition support. Despite his earlier statements that ISIS could be 'managed,' he now clearly understands the huge threat ISIS poses to America and our allies. I look forward to supporting efforts in Congress to provide the legislative authority to accomplish the goal of destroying ISIS."

Excerpts from President Obama's address to the nation:

. . . So tonight, with a new Iraqi government in place, and following consultations with allies abroad and Congress at home, I can announce that America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this . . . threat.

Our objective is clear: We will degrade, and ultimately destroy, ISIL through a comprehensive and sustained counterterrorism strategy.

First, we will conduct a systematic campaign of airstrikes. . . .

Second, we will increase our support to forces fighting these terrorists on the ground. . . .

Third, we will continue to draw on our substantial counterterrorism capabilities to prevent ISIL attacks. . . .

Fourth, we will continue providing humanitarian assistance to innocent civilians who have been displaced. . . .

In each of these four parts of our strategy, America will be joined by a broad coalition of partners. . . . My Administration has also secured bipartisan support for this approach here at home. I have the authority to address the threat from ISIL. But I believe we are strongest as a nation when the President and Congress work together. . . .

Now, it will take time. . . . But I want the American people to understand . . . it will not involve American combat troops fighting on foreign soil. This . . . will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground. EndText