President Barack Obama doubled down on his vow to eliminate the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria—the terrorist group responsible for the recent beheadings of two American journalists—Wednesday during a press conference in Estonia.
According to an Al-Jazeera report, Obama, using an alternative acronym for the group, issued this declaration: "Our objective is clear, and that is to degrade and destroy ISIL so that it’s no longer a threat not just to Iraq but also the region and to the United States."
Obama's stern message came one day after ISIS released a video showing the beheading of American journalist Steven Sotloff. Sotloff is the second American journalist known to have been beheaded by the group. James Foley, who was held captive along with Sotloff, was killed last month.
Obama made it clear that the U.S. strategy would be a multilateral one that would solicit help from other nations in the region, particularly the Muslim world.
"What we’ve got to do is make sure that we are organizing the Arab world, the Middle East, the Muslim world, along with the international community, to isolate this cancer, this particular brand of extremism that is, first and foremost, destructive to the Muslim world and the Arab world and North Africa, and the people who live there," Obama said.
The president also cautioned that it would likely take time to enact his plan and noted that the political instability of Syria and ISIS' ability to recruit are key factors to consider when considering a timeline.
The U.S.-led coalition fighting in Iraq did have a victory recently, according to Al-Jazeera. "Over the weekend, the IS [ISIS] two-month siege on Amerli—where about 15,000 Shia Turkmens had been stranded with dwindling supplies—was broken by Iraqi forces and U.S. military support," the website states.
Read more at Al-Jazeera.