Speaking during a press conference from Eastern Europe early Wednesday morning, President Obama said justice will be served for the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff yesterday and that ISIS must be "destroyed." However, shortly after those remarks, Obama said he is working with coalition forces to turn ISIS into a "manageable problem."
"We know that if we are joined by the international community, we can continue to shrink ISIL's sphere of influence, its effectiveness, its financing, its military capabilities to the point where it is a manageable problem," Obama said. "Our objective is clear, and that is to degrade and destroy ISIL so it is no longer a threat not just to Iraq but also the region and to the United States."
Obama's objective or strategy couldn't be more opaque (or non-existent as the White House admitted last week). Is the goal to "destroy" ISIS? Or to "manage" the terror army? If only the international community approves of course. One thing is clear, President Obama has no interest in the United States taking the lead on ISIS or destroying them on our own.
H/T Weekly Standard