{"id":46512,"date":"2014-09-11T07:02:13","date_gmt":"2014-09-11T07:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=46512"},"modified":"2014-09-11T07:02:13","modified_gmt":"2014-09-11T07:02:13","slug":"islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/","title":{"rendered":"Islamic State crisis: Obama threatens action in Syria"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"story_continues_1\">US President Barack Obama says he will not hesitate to take action against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria as well as Iraq.<\/p>\n<p>In a nationally televised speech\u00a0outlining his strategy against IS, he said that any group that threatened America would &#8220;find no safe haven&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>He also announced that 475 US military personnel would be sent to Iraq but said they would not have a combat role.<\/p>\n<p>IS controls large parts of Syria and Iraq after a rapid military advance.<\/p>\n<p>Its fighters have become notorious for their brutality, beheading enemy soldiers and Western journalists on video.<\/p>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"line\" src=\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/75306000\/jpg\/_75306515_line976.jpg\" width=\"464\" height=\"2\" \/><\/div>\n<p>President Obama&#8217;s anti-IS strategy<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A systematic campaign of airstrikes against IS targets &#8220;wherever they are&#8221;, including in Syria<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Increased support for allied ground forces fighting against IS &#8211; but not President Assad of Syria<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>More counter-terrorism efforts to cut off the group&#8217;s funding and help stem the flow of fighters into the Middle East<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Continuing humanitarian assistance to civilians affected by the IS advance<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"line\" src=\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/75306000\/jpg\/_75306515_line976.jpg\" width=\"464\" height=\"2\" \/><\/div>\n<p>The US has launched over 150 airstrikes against the group in Iraq and provided arms to Iraqi and Kurdish forces fighting against IS.<\/p>\n<p>In a 15-minute speech shown at peak time in the US, President Obama vowed that America would lead &#8220;a broad coalition to roll back&#8221; IS.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Working with the Iraqi government, we will expand our efforts beyond protecting our own people and humanitarian missions, so that we&#8217;re hitting Isil [Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant &#8211; the previous name for IS] targets as Iraqi forces go on the offense&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>He said he would welcome congressional approval for the fight against IS but said that he had the authority to act without it.<\/p>\n<p>President Obama was elected in part because of fervent opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and presided over the US troop pullout from the country.<\/p>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"line\" src=\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/75306000\/jpg\/_75306515_line976.jpg\" width=\"464\" height=\"2\" \/><\/div>\n<p>[contextly_sidebar id=&#8221;B93yMbayz6hZ6eDdli0xvxNjSh60b2SA&#8221;]<strong>Analysis: Jon Sopel, BBC North America editor, Washington<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>For the first time, Islamic State targets on the ground in Syria will be in the crosshairs of American pilots. The president told the American people: &#8220;I have made it clear that we will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are.&#8221; But he was equally emphatic that the combat on the ground would happen without US troops. Instead the US will ramp up its military assistance to the Syrian opposition.<\/p>\n<p>But the president was also at pains to express what this wasn&#8217;t. &#8220;We will not get dragged into another ground war,&#8221; he insisted. He said that America would lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat and would not be acting alone. There were two cautionary notes &#8211; the first on timescale and also that this would not be risk-free to American servicemen and women. Action is going to start: who knows when it will be mission accomplished.<\/p>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"line\" src=\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/75306000\/jpg\/_75306515_line976.jpg\" width=\"464\" height=\"2\" \/><\/div>\n<p>Coalition building<\/p>\n<p>Last year President Obama abandoned plans to launch airstrikes in Syria against government forces after congressional opposition.<\/p>\n<p>In his speech, he ruled out working with President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, despite the fact that his forces are also engaged in fighting IS.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;In the fight against Isil, we cannot rely on an Assad regime that terrorises its people: a regime that will never regain the legitimacy it has lost&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, he said, the US would seek to strengthen the non-IS Syrian opposition, which fights against both IS and President Assad.<\/p>\n<p>Syria&#8217;s Western-backed National Coalition welcomed Mr Obama&#8217;s plan, and urged Congress to approve it.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Syrian Coalition&#8230; stands ready and willing to partner with the international community not only to defeat [IS] but also rid the Syrian people of the tyranny of the Assad regime,&#8221; its president Hadi al-Bahra said in a statement, quoted by Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n<p>US Secretary of State John Kerry is already in the Middle East trying to build a coalition against IS.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Kerry was in Iraq on Wednesday, where he praised the new government&#8217;s plans to involve more Sunnis in government and heal ties with the Kurds.<\/p>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"John Kerry looks over papers while flying from Jordan to Iraq on September 10\" src=\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/77515000\/jpg\/_77515517_6fd777a6-808b-45e3-bb32-312eea93dc8a.jpg\" width=\"624\" height=\"351\" \/><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>John Kerry is on a tour of the Middle East &#8211; Jordan is the next stop after Iraq<\/div>\n<p>He said the President&#8217;s strategy &#8220;will succeed because doing it with allies and partners isn&#8217;t just smart, it&#8217;s strong&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Obama has already authorised $25m (\u00a315m) in aid for the Iraqi military.<\/p>\n<div><img loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Map and chart showing US air strikes against IS in Iraq\" src=\"http:\/\/news.bbcimg.co.uk\/media\/images\/77458000\/gif\/_77458795_iraq_airstrikes_map_624.gif\" width=\"624\" height=\"610\" \/><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Source: BBC<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US President Barack Obama says he will not hesitate to take action against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria as well as Iraq. In a nationally televised speech\u00a0outlining his strategy against IS, he said that any group that threatened America would &#8220;find no safe haven&#8221;. He also announced that 475 US military personnel would be [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":37858,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[14],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Islamic State crisis: Obama threatens action in Syria - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Islamic State crisis: Obama threatens action in Syria - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"US President Barack Obama says he will not hesitate to take action against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria as well as Iraq. In a nationally televised speech\u00a0outlining his strategy against IS, he said that any group that threatened America would &#8220;find no safe haven&#8221;. He also announced that 475 US military personnel would be [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-09-11T07:02:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/s3.reutersmedia.net_.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"556\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"378\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@citi973\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/\",\"name\":\"Islamic State crisis: Obama threatens action in Syria - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2014-09-11T07:02:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-09-11T07:02:13+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Islamic State crisis: Obama threatens action in Syria\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/\",\"name\":\"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always\",\"description\":\"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1\",\"name\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kojo Akoto Boateng\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Islamic State crisis: Obama threatens action in Syria - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Islamic State crisis: Obama threatens action in Syria - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","og_description":"US President Barack Obama says he will not hesitate to take action against Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria as well as Iraq. In a nationally televised speech\u00a0outlining his strategy against IS, he said that any group that threatened America would &#8220;find no safe haven&#8221;. He also announced that 475 US military personnel would be [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/","og_site_name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/citi97.3","article_published_time":"2014-09-11T07:02:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":556,"height":378,"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/s3.reutersmedia.net_.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@citi973","twitter_site":"@citi973","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/","name":"Islamic State crisis: Obama threatens action in Syria - Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website"},"datePublished":"2014-09-11T07:02:13+00:00","dateModified":"2014-09-11T07:02:13+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2014\/09\/islamic-state-crisis-obama-threatens-action-in-syria\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Islamic State crisis: Obama threatens action in Syria"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/","name":"Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always","description":"Ghana News | Ghana Politics | Ghana Soccer | Ghana Showbiz","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/1642ef473fe39bf0c4e2f2f252678eb1","name":"Kojo Akoto Boateng","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba51f5385119e83762c67ecd6aa410ab?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Kojo Akoto Boateng"},"url":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/author\/kojo\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46512"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46512"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46512\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}