With approval in hand to arm and train Syrian rebels to fight the ISIS terror group, President Barack Obama said Thursday the plan keeps with “the key principle” of U.S. strategy: No American combat troops on the ground.
“The American troops deployed to Iraq do not and will not have a combat mission,” he said in televised remarks from the White House.
“Their mission is to advise and assist our partners on the ground. …We can destroy ISIL without having our troops fight another ground war in the Middle East.”
Obama said more than 40 countries, including Arab nations, have offered assistance in the battle against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, which calls itself the Islamic State.
Obama speaks out on arming rebels Senate approves arming Syrian rebels Missing hostage alive in new ISIS video U.S. focuses on new ISIS targets
The developments came as ISIS advanced its grip on portions of Syria and Iraq, seizing 16 predominantly Kurdish villages near the Turkish border.
The move by ISIS was just one in a series of developments that saw new reports of atrocities emerge and the release of a video of a captive British journalist criticizing the American and British governments.
Citing the Sunni terror group’s brutality, from beheading civilians — including American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff — to the mass execution of its opponents, Obama said the United States will not back down.
“With their barbaric murder of two Americans, these terrorists thought they could frighten us or intimidate us or cause us to shrink from the world,” Obama said.
“But today they are learning the same hard lesson of petty tyrants and terrorists who have gone before, as Americans we do not give into fear. When you harm our citizens, when you threaten the United States, when you threaten our allies, it doesn’t frighten us. It unites us.”
The question now appears to be not if, but when the United States will strike ISIS in its stronghold in northern Syria.
The U.S. military has everything it needs to strike ISIS targets in Syria, a plan that officials told CNN is still waiting on Obama’s signoff.
ISIS, meanwhile, is modifying its behavior, from the way it communicates to the way it conceals itself, in response to potential U.S. airstrikes in Syria, U.S. military officials told CNN.
The officials expressed confidence the airstrikes would be effective.
As top U.S. military leadership approved a plan to strike ISIS in Syria, the Senate on Thursday gave final congressional approval to Obama’s proposal. The House approved Obama’s request on Wednesday.

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Story: http://www.cnn.com/2014/09/18/world/meast/isis-threat/