President Obama Outlines Strategy Against Islamic State

President Barack Obama said on Monday the Islamic State was losing ground in Iraq and Syria. President Obama said the US-led coalition fighting the militant group there had made “progress” but warned in a press briefing at the Pentagon on July 6 that combating the “nimble” Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) was challenging.

The US has intensified airstrikes against IS bases in Syria, has sent new military trainers to support Iraqi and Kurdish fighters, and was cutting off IS’s funding and propaganda as part of an comprehensive strategy, according to Obama.

“Ultimately to defeat terrorist groups like ISIL, al-Qaeda, is going to require us to discredit their ideology, the twisted thinking that draws people into their ranks,” said Obama. “This broader challenge of countering violent extremism is not simply a military effort. Ideologies are not defeated with guns alone, they are defeated with better ideas.” Credit: YouTube/The White House