It sounded for a little while this morning as though Obama had woken up, maybe even had a bowl or two of Wheaties. The headline comment from him was “The bottom line is this: Our objective is clear and that is to degrade and destroy ISIL so it is no longer a threat.”
But ABC News noted that he’s spent the rest of the day backing away or qualifying this statement so as to make it virtually meaningless:
But when ABC News Radio White House correspondent Ann Compton today asked the president to clarify whether the United States now wants ISIS destroyed, the president seemed to significantly backtrack.
“Our objective is to make sure they aren’t an ongoing threat to the region,” he said.
Then, in response to another question, he seemed to backtrack even further: “We know that if we are joined by the international community, we can continue to shrink ISIL’s sphere of influence, its effectiveness, its military capability to the point where it is a manageable problem.”
Making ISIS a “manageable problem” sounds like a far cry from destroying it.
Jimmy Carter was not available for comment.
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