Obama says does not yet have military strategy for Islamic State

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <h1 style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px 0px 10px;"> <img alt="U.S. President Barack Obama addresses reporters in the White House Press Briefing Room ahead of a meeting with his national security council in Washington, August 28, 2014. REUTERS/Larry Downing" border="0" src="http://s1.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20140829&t=2&i=968547854&w=580&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=LYNXMPEA7R11A" style="display: block; width: 580px;" /></h1> <div class="relatedPhoto landscape" id="articleImage" style="clear: left !important; margin: 0px 0px 10px; position: relative; width: 580px;"> <div class="rolloverCaption" id="captionContent" style="bottom: 0px; clear: both; float: left; left: 0px; margin-bottom: 20px; margin-left: -10px; padding-right: 20px; position: relative; width: 590px; z-index: 2;"> <div class="rolloverBg" style="background-image: none; clear: both; float: left; padding-bottom: 0px; width: 610px !important;"> <div class="captionText" style="height: 60px; padding: 10px; position: relative;"> <div style="padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">U.S. President Barack Obama addresses reporters in the White House Press Briefing Room ahead of a meeting with his national security council in Washington, August 28, 2014.</span></div> <div class="credit" style="margin-top: 5px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">CREDIT: REUTERS/LARRY DOWNING</span></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="relatedRai" id="relatedInlineVideo"> </div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 140px;"> </div> </div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 140px;"> </div> </div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 140px;"> </div> </div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" style="display: inline; 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padding: 0px; width: 140px;"> <li style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat repeat; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 0px;"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/politics" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">Politics »</span></a></li> <li style="background-attachment: scroll; background-image: none; background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: repeat repeat; border-top-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-top-style: dotted; border-top-width: 1px; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 3px 0px;"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/places/syria" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: black;">Syria »</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 140px;"> <div id="thirdPartyLinkbackNews"> </div> </div> </div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" id="relatedInteractive" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 140px;"> </div> </div> <div class="columnLeft" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-right: 35px;"> <div class="relatedRail gridPanel grid2" style="display: inline; float: left; margin: 0px; overflow: hidden; width: 140px;"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">(Reuters) - President <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/people/barack-obama?lc=int_mb_1001" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Barack Obama</a></span> said on Thursday the United States has not yet developed a strategy for confronting Islamic State in <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/syria?lc=int_mb_1001" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Syria</a></span>, an acknowledgement that a decision had not been made on whether to launch air strikes against the militant group.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Obama's comment during a White House news conference before a meeting of national security advisers about how to proceed against Islamic State drew criticism from Republicans and a clarification from White House spokesman Josh Earnest.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Representative Tom Price, a Georgia Republican, said on Twitter: "President says "we don’t have a strategy yet" to deal with #ISIS. That's obvious and increasingly unacceptable."</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Earnest said Obama was referring to military options and that Obama has a comprehensive strategy for confronting the group through diplomatic means.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Obama's decision to begin U.S. surveillance flights over <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/syria?lc=int_mb_1001" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Syria</a></span> this week prompted speculation that he was on the brink of expanding the fight against Islamic State from <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/iraq?lc=int_mb_1001" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Iraq</a></span>into Syria and criticism from some lawmakers concerned that they had not been properly consulted over possible U.S. actions.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Republicans and Democrats in Congress have called for lawmakers to vote on whether the United States should broaden its action against the Islamic State.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Obama shied away from launching air strikes in Syria a year ago to punish Syrian President Bashir al-Assad for using chemical weapons against his own people, and he has been reluctant to get involved in Syria's civil war, believing there are few options for the United States.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Public anger over the beheading of American journalist James Foley, however, has led Obama to consider military strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria. So far, the U.S. has limited its actions to the group's forces in <span class="mandelbrot_refrag"><a class="mandelbrot_refrag" data-ls-seen="1" href="http://www.reuters.com/places/iraq?lc=int_mb_1001" style="cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Iraq</a></span>.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Obama said he has asked Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to prepare options for confronting Islamic State and said Secretary of State John Kerry would travel to the region to help create an anti-Islamic State coalition.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Obama's strategy for Islamic State is not limited to military action. It includes supporting moderate Sunni rebels in Syria and encouraging a unity government in Baghdad between Shi'ites and Sunnis, who have engaged in sectarian battles.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"My priority at this point is to make sure that the gains that ISIL (Islamic State) made in Iraq are rolled back and that Iraq has the opportunity to govern itself effectively and secure itself," he said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Obama said the options he had requested from military planners at the Pentagon focused primarily on making certain that Islamic State is "not overrunning Iraq."</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Congressional concerns over potential U.S. military strikes in Syria have increased.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, Democrats James McGovern of Massachusetts and Barbara Lee of California and Republican Walter Jones of North Carolina asked for Congressional debate and a vote on any authorization to use military force.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate, said he thought Obama would have “significant congressional support” if he provided a strategic plan to protect the United States and its allies from the Sunni militants.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Obama promised that he would consult Congress, but unlike a year ago when strikes were considered against Syria, he did not vow to seek specific congressional authorization.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"I don't want to put the cart before the horse," he said. He said news reports have suggested he is on the verge of an elaborate strategy for defeating the group without consulting Congress.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"That's not what's going to happen," he said.</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">(The story fixes typo in "been" in first paragraph)</span></div> <div style="margin-bottom: 20px; padding: 0px;"> </div> <span id="articleText" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span id="midArticle_start"></span><span id="midArticle_0"></span><span class="focusParagraph"></span><span id="midArticle_1"></span><span id="midArticle_2"></span><span id="midArticle_3"></span><span id="midArticle_4"></span><span id="midArticle_5"></span><span id="midArticle_6"></span><span id="midArticle_7"></span><span id="midArticle_8"></span><span id="midArticle_9"></span><span id="midArticle_10"></span><span id="midArticle_11"></span><span id="midArticle_12"></span><span id="midArticle_13"></span><span id="midArticle_14"></span><span id="midArticle_15"></span><span id="midArticle_0"></span><span id="midArticle_1"></span><span id="midArticle_2"></span><span id="midArticle_3"></span><span id="midArticle_4"></span></span><br /> <div style="font-family: georgia, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 23px; margin: 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;"> (Additional reporting by <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=roberta.rampton&" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Roberta Rampton</a> and <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=mark.felsenthal&" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Mark Felsenthal</a>; Editing by <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=sandra.maler&" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Sandra Maler</a>,<a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=eric.walsh&" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Eric Walsh</a>, <a data-ls-seen="1" href="http://blogs.reuters.com/search/journalist.php?edition=us&n=toni.reinhold&" style="color: #006e97; cursor: pointer; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">Toni Reinhold</a>)</div> </div>

Obama says does not yet have military strategy for Islamic State

U.S. President Barack Obama addresses reporters in the White House Press Briefing Room ahead of a meeting with his national security...

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