Politically, Obama’s address, on the eve of the September 11 attacks in 2001, which pitched the United States into an unresolved confrontation with radical Islam, was an attempt to shore up his position after a few tricky weeks.
– ‘Steady, relentless’ –
His admission last month that he didn’t yet have a strategy to take on Islamic State in Syria exposed him to withering political attacks from Republican foes.
In this speech, in which he promised a “steady, relentless” combination of US air power and foreign partners he repeatedly used the word “strategy.”
Speaking from the ceremonial State floor of the White House, Obama said that his new strategy had only been possible because Iraqi politicians had converged and formed an “inclusive” government to unite the country and take on IS.
Obama’s Republican foes welcomed his robust new anti-IS policy — but many accused him of dithering for weeks over what to do.
“I support the president’s plan to train and equip the Iraqi Security Forces and Syrian opposition, but I remain concerned that those measures could take years to fully implement,” said House Speaker John Boehner.
But some Democrats in the Senate, some facing tough races in November’s congressional elections, distanced themselves from the president’s plan.
Senator Mark Udall of Colorado said he worried about the offensive expanding into a land war, which he said would need congressional approval.
“The American people must be assured that we are not pursuing another open-ended conflict in the Middle East, and I will not give this president — or any other president — a blank check to begin another land war in Iraq,” Udall said.
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