begin quote from:
Barack Obama Says Islamic State Is Losing Ground Militarily, Turning More to Terrorism
| Wall Street Journal | - |
WASHINGTON—President
Barack Obama said Thursday that the Islamic State militant group has
shifted tactics from seeking new territory to using terrorist attacks
outside its strongholds in Iraq and Syria after losing ground militarily
there to the U.S ...
Barack Obama Says Islamic State Is Losing Ground Militarily, Turning More to Terrorism
President hails progress in Iraq, Syria but cautions about next stage
President Obama on Thursday said
the Islamic State has not had a major battlefield success in Iraq and
Syria in a year but said there is still a threat of lone wolf and
high-profile attacks. Photo: Getty
Mr. Obama, speaking after a briefing on the campaign against Islamic State at the Pentagon, said the group is relying on small-scale terrorist attacks to generate “the kind of fear and concern that elevates their profile.” He said the shift is also a threat to the U.S.
“I think it is serious. We take it seriously,” Mr. Obama said. “The possibility of either a one actor or either a small cell carrying out an attack that kills people is real.”
Mr. Obama defended his strategy—which backs local ground forces and militias fighting the extremist group with U.S. airstrikes and other military assistance—by outlining how the tactics have rolled back the extremist group’s territory in Iraq and Syria, while stemming its flow of foreign fighters and cash.
President Obama laughed off
Donald Trump's claim that the November presidential election would be
rigged, saying it was unusual for someone to complain about being
cheated months before the voting even starts. Photo: Getty
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Islamic State, meanwhile, has retained control of Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq, the two main capitals in its self-declared caliphate. Cities emerging from Islamic State control face a harrowing task of rebuilding, with few resources.
There’s also a strategic dilemma: The U.S. is trying to excise Islamic State surgically from Iraq, Syria and Libya before brokering peace among all the competing groups vying for control in those fragile states. Even if Islamic State loses all its territory, the countries all face deep political instability and conflict among groups apart from Islamic State.
Mr. Obama called on Russia to play a constructive role militarily and on political transition in Syria.
“It is time for Russia to show that it is serious about these objectives,” he said.
The U.S. has about 5,000 troops in Iraq and a few hundred in Syria.
As of Aug. 3, the administration said the U.S. and its allies in the coalition had conducted 14,235 airstrikes on Islamic State in the campaign. According to U.S. officials, Iraqi forces backed by the U.S. have recaptured half of the territory Islamic State occupied in the country, including cities such as Fallujah, Tikrit and Rutba.
In Syria, the U.S. is backing Kurdish and Arab fighters in their bid to recapture the northern city of Manbij, a conduit for foreign fighters into the self-declared caliphate. Islamic State has lost about 20% of its territory there.
Further afield, the U.S. launched airstrikes this week to help Libyan militias retake the coastal city of Sirte from Islamic State. In Afghanistan, U.S. forces have been helping local troops go after an Islamic State affiliate in the Nangarhar region near the border with Pakistan.
Write to Carol E. Lee at carol.lee@wsj.com and Paul Sonne at paul.sonne@wsj.com
