Barack Obama Quotes

I think we can take back Mosul, and then we can move on into Syria and take back Raqqa.

If the U.S. wants to destroy ISIS, it can destroy ISIS. We won't end terrorism around the world. But we can destroy ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Prominent generals are telling us that. Prominent national-security strategists are telling us that. So let's do it.

The combat [with ISIS] on the ground must be done by Muslim troops with our support. We must not get involved in perpetual warfare in the Middle East.

The Egyptian military and the government of Israel have long had a common interest in maintaining order and fighting terrorism in Sinai.

In 2016, Washington and its coalition partners conducted more than 7,000 strikes in Iraq and Syria. And in Libya, the United States has conducted more than 350 air strikes since August as part of its military campaign against ISIS there.

I'm afraid you're gonna have to see more American military involvement in order to keep ISIS from spreading even further.

In my view, airstrikes without an effective ground force are unlikely to make any meaningful contribution to defeating Isis.

Europe, the U.S., and their allies can defeat the terrorists of Islamic State, or ISIS. The first step is making the decision to fight back. The next step is understanding that drones and standoff missiles will not be enough. Ground troops will be needed.

We also have to intensify our air strikes against ISIS and eventually support our Arab and Kurdish partners to be able to actually take out ISIS in Raqqa, end their claim of being a Caliphate.

I think what the president [Barack Obama] understands, and what he's trying to do, is that we have to support the Arab and Kurdish fighters on the ground who are actually doing the fighting.

I look at what the president [Barack Obama] it doing, it adds up to me. We just have to keep - try to get more support for those people on the ground in Syria and Iraq who have to actually physically take the territory back.

If you put two brigades on the ground right now with U.S. forces, they would push ISIS back into Syria in a heartbeat.

Russia should join the international coalition against Islamic State. It is absurd that we are intervening on the side of the Shiites in a war between Sunnis and Shiites even though almost all Russian Muslims are Sunnis. Putin is creating big problems for us in his attempt to help Bashar Assad.

Well, the reports are correct that we're conducting very robust military operations on the Afghan side of the border in areas where we think al-Qaida is operating and Taliban remnants are.

You cannot defeat Islamic State with airstrikes only. It's necessary to cooperate with ground troops, and the Syrian army is the most efficient and powerful ground force to fight the Islamic State.

Each and every day, Israel remains on the frontline along with the United States in the War on Terror and is nothing but an unabashed ally of pro-democratic and pro-American policy.

I can support going in after Saddam Hussein, but I want to make sure I don't go alone.

In the war against terror, we have no stronger ally than Israel.

President-elect Donald Trump says he's looking for a simple plan for defeating ISIS within his first 30 days of taking office. But even as ISIS has suffered setbacks in Iraq and Syria, its violent ideology continues to spread.

At the center of President Obama's strategy for dealing with the Islamic State is an empty space. It's supposed be filled by a 'Sunni ground force,' but after more than a year of effort, it's still not there. Unless this gap is filled, Obama's plan won't work.

Despite what you hear in the news from the Obama administration and the military, our strategy of conducting infrequent airstrikes and re-taking pockets of Iraq and Syria terrain will only help us achieve short-lived tactical victories.

One thing is certain: we will not be successful in this fight against ISIS and other extremist groups unless countries in the region are a major part of the coalition.

I have already said that I find the coalition air strikes to be insufficient. A ground intervention will be necessary to overcome Daesh.

We have a duty to fight ISIS; air operations alone will not defeat ISIS.

Our military and national security agencies will require flexibility to take steps, short of war, to counter the Iranian threat in the Middle East and elsewhere.