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Washington, As he continues to galvanise the world for a broad coalition against the Islamic State, US President Barack Obama today said the international community is united in its fight against the dreaded terror group, which has gained control over large parts of Syria and Iraq.
“This is not America’s fight alone. I won’t commit our troops to fighting another ground war in Iraq, or in Syria. It’s more effective to use our capabilities to help partners on the ground secure their own country’s futures,” Obama said in his weekly address to the nation.
He said, “We will use our air power. We will train and equip our partners. We will advise and we will assist.”
Over 40 countries have offered to help the broad campaign against the Islamic State or ISIL so far – from training and equipment, to humanitarian relief, to flying combat missions.
“We will lead a broad coalition of nations who have a stake in this fight. This isn’t America vs ISIL. This is the people of that region vs ISIL. It’s the world vs ISIL,” he said, using the Arabic acronym for the group.
“This week, at the United Nations, I’ll continue to rally the world against this threat,” he added.
Obama is scheduled to address the annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York next week.
Over the past week, the US has continued to lead its friends and allies in the strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy the terrorist group known as ISIL, he said.
“As I’ve said before, our intelligence community has not yet detected specific plots from these terrorists against America. But its leaders have threatened America and our allies. And if left unchecked, they could pose a growing threat to the United States,” Obama said.
“So, last month, I gave the order for our military to begin taking targeted action against ISIL. Since then, American pilots have flown more than 170 airstrikes against these terrorists in Iraq. France has now joined us in these airstrikes,” he said.
Obama said the US will not hesitate to take action against these terrorists in Iraq or in Syria. In his address, Obama also thanked the Congress for approving his request to train and arm Syrian rebels.
“A majority of Democrats and a majority of Republicans in both the House and the Senate have now approved a first, key part of our strategy by wide margins. They’ve given our troops the authority they need to train Syrian opposition fighters so that they can fight ISIL in Syria,” he said.
