Yesterday during a press conference in Eastern Europe, President Obama said he wanted to turn ISIS into a "manageable" problem. Today in a Times of London joint op-ed with British Prime Minister David Cameron, Obama laid out ways to reach that goal by strengthening NATO as Britain seems to be moving closer to helping with airstrikes against the terror army in Iraq. The NATO summit starts today in Wales.
"If terrorists think we will weaken in the face of their threats they could not be more wrong. Countries like Britain and America will not be cowed by barbaric killers...We will be more forthright in the defense of our values, not least because a world of greater freedom is a fundamental part of how we keep our own people safe," Cameron and Obama wrote.
This is progress, but it should be noted that there is no mention of President Obama going to Congress for military authorization for strikes in Syria, where ISIS terrorists know they're safe. Gaining support from the "international community" seems to be the only publicly stated goal.
It should be noted there are more British Muslims fighting with ISIS in the Middle East than there are fighting in the British military. The ISIS terrorist who beheaded American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff had an English accent.
Exit question: Will Obama be able to build a coalition against ISIS as large as the one President George W. Bush was capable of locking down ahead of the Iraq war in 2003? So far, the answer is no.
