WASHINGTON
U.S. President Barack Obama said that he would announce the plan of an offensive against the Islamic State militants on Wednesday.
In an exclusive interview with 'Meet the Press' moderator Chuck Todd of NBC on Sunday, Obama said that they had so far focused on the problem of IS, assessed the situation on the ground, and ensured the security of American facilities in Iraq as well as other strategic structures such as the Mosul Dam.
"The next phase is now to start going on some offense," he said. "I will then meet with congressional leaders on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I'll make a speech and describe what our game plan's going to be going forward."
Obama noted that the announcement would not include U.S. troops on the ground.
"This is not the equivalent of the Iraq war. [This] is similar to the kinds of counterterrorism campaigns that we've been engaging in consistently over the last five, six, seven years," he noted.
He also added that they would have airstrikes against IS in Syria as well but warned that these would not in any way benefit Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.
Obama to ask more resources from the Congress
During the interview, President Obama said that he would be asking the U.S. Congress for more resources.
"It's going to require some resources, I suspect, above what we are currently doing in the region," he said. "We are going to be as part of an international coalition, carrying out air strikes in support of work on the ground by Iraqi troops, Kurdish troops."
Obama said that the U.S. had to establish coalitions with governments that were committed to pushing back the kind of extremism that IS represents.
Obama underscored that the U.S. would need Sunni states to help, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.
"They need to be involved. This is their neighborhood. The dangers that are posed are more directed at them right now than they are us," he said. "Our goal should not be to think that we can occupy every country where there's a terrorist organization."
"We're going to have to develop a moderate Sunni opposition that can control territory and that we can work with," he added.
"IS not yet a direct threat to U.S. homeland"
Obama said that IS was not yet a direct threat to the U.S. territory and did not have the capabilities to launch an attack like 9/11. Still, he remarked, they could evolve into a direct threat to the homeland.
He noted that the insurgent group had recruited foreign fighters, including those from Europe, who have visas to the United States.
Armed groups linked to the IS, formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, have captured large amounts of territory in Iraq in recent months, forcing thousands of Iraqis including Turkmen, Arabs and Ezidis to flee.
The United States has conducted a total of 133 airstrikes across Iraq on IS targets since President Barack Obama authorized an air campaign in the region in early August.
The U.S. and several European countries have been searching for a global and regional coalition to fight and uproot the IS threat in the Middle East.
www.aa.com.tr/en
