09-09-2014, 07:15 PM
Tomorrow night, 10 September 2014, President Obama addresses the nation (his plan to push back IS in Syria included)
Here's what's expected, according to various reports:
--Obama may raise the long-term potential for airstrikes in Syria, though there is no sign that any such action is imminent. Military surveillance flights have started over Syria, the Islamic State has a "virtual safe haven."
--The administration does not plan to send American troops there or to act without support from allies.
--Obama told NBC's Meet the Press over the weekend that he will not send ground troops into combat, and this strategy will not be the equivalent of the Iraq War launched in 2003. This plan "is similar to the kinds of counter-terrorism campaigns that we've been engaging in consistently over the last five, six, seven years," Obama said. He said, "The next phase is now to start going on some offense."
-- The justification for action is that the Islamic State has captured large sections of Syria and Iraq. Obama and other Western officials say it plans to use its "caliphate" to launch attacks on U.S. and European interests.
--House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, one of four congressional leaders who met with Obama today, expressed support for some of the president's options, including "training and equipping the Syrian opposition,'' said an aide to the speaker.
Here's what's expected, according to various reports:
--Obama may raise the long-term potential for airstrikes in Syria, though there is no sign that any such action is imminent. Military surveillance flights have started over Syria, the Islamic State has a "virtual safe haven."
--The administration does not plan to send American troops there or to act without support from allies.
--Obama told NBC's Meet the Press over the weekend that he will not send ground troops into combat, and this strategy will not be the equivalent of the Iraq War launched in 2003. This plan "is similar to the kinds of counter-terrorism campaigns that we've been engaging in consistently over the last five, six, seven years," Obama said. He said, "The next phase is now to start going on some offense."
-- The justification for action is that the Islamic State has captured large sections of Syria and Iraq. Obama and other Western officials say it plans to use its "caliphate" to launch attacks on U.S. and European interests.
--House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, one of four congressional leaders who met with Obama today, expressed support for some of the president's options, including "training and equipping the Syrian opposition,'' said an aide to the speaker.