Obama rejects France’s call to ramp up war against ISIS
French President François Hollande on Monday called for the United States and Russia to join his country in an all-out war against ISIS — but President Obama expressed a much less aggressive stance, and said putting more US troops on the ground “would be a mistake.”
In a role reversal from the 2003 US war against Iraq, which France opposed, Hollande told French lawmakers he is committed to “destroying” ISIS, “a result that has been too long in coming.”
Speaking at a rare joint session of Parliament at the Palace of Versailles, Hollande said he wanted to create “a union of all who can fight this terrorist army in a single coalition.”
“I will call both Obama and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to unite our efforts and seek a solution,” Hollande said.
Obama, however, flatly rejected Hollande’s plea to ramp up the US military effort, instead defending his own strategy of targeted airstrikes and aiding anti-ISIS fighters.
Responding to a reporter who asked, “Why can’t we take out these bastards?,” Obama said that deploying 50,000 American soldiers could oust ISIS from its strongholds in Syria and Iraq, but wouldn’t stop it from mounting attacks in other countries.
Obama also said the idea of imposing a “no-fly zone” was well-intentioned but unworkable, claiming, “It’s best that we don’t shoot first and aim later.”
In a jab at Republicans who blasted his approach in the wake of Friday’s deadly ISIS attacks in Paris, Obama said he wouldn’t do anything “just to make America look tough, or make me look tough.”
“If folks want to pop off and have opinions about what they think they would do, present a specific plan,” he said at the close of the G-20 summit meeting in Antalya, Turkey.
“If they think that somehow, their advisers are better than the chairman of my Joint Chiefs of Staff and the folks who are actually on the ground, I want to meet them.”
A new ISIS video threatened further attacks across Europe and in the US capital. “We say to the states that take part in the crusader campaign that, by God, you will have a day, God willing, like France’s and by God, as we struck France in the center of its abode in Paris, then we swear that we will strike America at its center in Washington,” vowed a fighter identified as “Al Ghareeb the Algerian.”
French warplanes again launched airstrikes against ISIS in Raqqa, Syria, hitting seven sites.
French officials said police exercising emergency powers had conducted 168 raids since Sunday night, arresting 127 people and confiscating 31 weapons. The seizures included a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a rocket launcher.
Following a nationwide minute of silence at noon, several of Paris’ landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, reopened.
In Turkey, Putin spoke cryptically about his private, 30-minute meeting with Obama on Sunday. “We proposed cooperation on antiterrorism; unfortunately our partners in the United States in the initial stage responded with a refusal,” Putin said, according to the Wall Street Journal.“But life indeed moves on, often very quickly, and teaches us lessons. It seems to me that everyone is coming around to the realization that we can wage an effective fight only together.”
And in a sign the Russian president is no longer considered a pariah by Western leaders, Putin revealed that British Prime Minister David Cameron had shared intelligence about the suspected bombing of a Russian airliner that crashed in Egypt on Oct. 31.
Cameron, who spoke privately with Putin for an hour on Monday, told the BBC that the West was willing to compromise with Russia over a deal to end the Syrian civil war.
Meanwhile, Obama on Monday reaffirmed his administration’s pledge to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees, but he met staunch resistance from nearly half the US governors following the revelation that at least one Paris attacker had sneaked into France with a group of refugees. The list of dissenting governors — which by Monday evening swelled to at least 24 and which was made up almost entirely of Republicans, according to the Washington Post — includes Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, John Kasich of Ohio and Chris Christie of New Jersey, who said he’d even reject “3-year-old orphans.”New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is challenging Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte, was the first Democrat to join the group.
New York Republican Rep. Chris Collins and GOP Assemblyman Christopher Friend are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to bar Syrian refugees from the Empire State, citing the threat of terrorism.
The NYPD added 100 cops to its counterterrorism unit, the first step in a plan to beef up its ranks to combat Islamist extremists in the wake of Paris.
French President François Hollande on Monday called for the United States and Russia to join his country in an all-out war against ISIS — but President Obama expressed a much less aggressive stance, and said putting more US troops on the ground “would be a mistake.”
In a role reversal from the 2003 US war against Iraq, which France opposed, Hollande told French lawmakers he is committed to “destroying” ISIS, “a result that has been too long in coming.”
Speaking at a rare joint session of Parliament at the Palace of Versailles, Hollande said he wanted to create “a union of all who can fight this terrorist army in a single coalition.”
“I will call both Obama and [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to unite our efforts and seek a solution,” Hollande said.
Obama, however, flatly rejected Hollande’s plea to ramp up the US military effort, instead defending his own strategy of targeted airstrikes and aiding anti-ISIS fighters.
Responding to a reporter who asked, “Why can’t we take out these bastards?,” Obama said that deploying 50,000 American soldiers could oust ISIS from its strongholds in Syria and Iraq, but wouldn’t stop it from mounting attacks in other countries.
Obama also said the idea of imposing a “no-fly zone” was well-intentioned but unworkable, claiming, “It’s best that we don’t shoot first and aim later.”
In a jab at Republicans who blasted his approach in the wake of Friday’s deadly ISIS attacks in Paris, Obama said he wouldn’t do anything “just to make America look tough, or make me look tough.”
“If folks want to pop off and have opinions about what they think they would do, present a specific plan,” he said at the close of the G-20 summit meeting in Antalya, Turkey.
“If they think that somehow, their advisers are better than the chairman of my Joint Chiefs of Staff and the folks who are actually on the ground, I want to meet them.”
A new ISIS video threatened further attacks across Europe and in the US capital. “We say to the states that take part in the crusader campaign that, by God, you will have a day, God willing, like France’s and by God, as we struck France in the center of its abode in Paris, then we swear that we will strike America at its center in Washington,” vowed a fighter identified as “Al Ghareeb the Algerian.”
French warplanes again launched airstrikes against ISIS in Raqqa, Syria, hitting seven sites.
French officials said police exercising emergency powers had conducted 168 raids since Sunday night, arresting 127 people and confiscating 31 weapons. The seizures included a Kalashnikov assault rifle and a rocket launcher.
Following a nationwide minute of silence at noon, several of Paris’ landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, reopened.
In Turkey, Putin spoke cryptically about his private, 30-minute meeting with Obama on Sunday. “We proposed cooperation on antiterrorism; unfortunately our partners in the United States in the initial stage responded with a refusal,” Putin said, according to the Wall Street Journal.“But life indeed moves on, often very quickly, and teaches us lessons. It seems to me that everyone is coming around to the realization that we can wage an effective fight only together.”
And in a sign the Russian president is no longer considered a pariah by Western leaders, Putin revealed that British Prime Minister David Cameron had shared intelligence about the suspected bombing of a Russian airliner that crashed in Egypt on Oct. 31.
Cameron, who spoke privately with Putin for an hour on Monday, told the BBC that the West was willing to compromise with Russia over a deal to end the Syrian civil war.
Meanwhile, Obama on Monday reaffirmed his administration’s pledge to take in 10,000 Syrian refugees, but he met staunch resistance from nearly half the US governors following the revelation that at least one Paris attacker had sneaked into France with a group of refugees. The list of dissenting governors — which by Monday evening swelled to at least 24 and which was made up almost entirely of Republicans, according to the Washington Post — includes Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, John Kasich of Ohio and Chris Christie of New Jersey, who said he’d even reject “3-year-old orphans.”New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, who is challenging Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte, was the first Democrat to join the group.
New York Republican Rep. Chris Collins and GOP Assemblyman Christopher Friend are urging Gov. Andrew Cuomo to bar Syrian refugees from the Empire State, citing the threat of terrorism.
The NYPD added 100 cops to its counterterrorism unit, the first step in a plan to beef up its ranks to combat Islamist extremists in the wake of Paris.
