The News

Last week—just before the coming day of tears and moments marked by silence in remembrance of the 13^th anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terrorists attacks —President Barack Obama quietly steps in front of the nation to announce his strategy for confronting the terrorist organization known as the Islamic State within the borders of Iraq and Syria.

“As commander in chief, my highest priority is the security of the American people,” said President Obama, as he highlighted the success of over 150 airstrikes by U.S. Central Command, who has military jurisdiction within Iraq.

President Obama also emphasized the insidious nature of the Islamic militants stating,

“They execute captured prisoners. They kill children. They enslave, rape and force women into marriage. They threatened a religious minority with genocide. And in acts of barbarism, they took the lives of two American journalists — Jim Foley and Steven Sotloff.”

“ISIL poses a threat […] to American citizens,” the President said, echoing warnings from intelligence officials that American and Europeans who currently hold U.S. passports could potentially carry out deadly attacks within the United States.

Presently, the intelligence community is not reporting any specific terrorists plots to attack the United States.

The Strategy

 

President Obama led out a four-phase plan to the American people—the military strategy is a combination of continued targeted airstrikes against ISIL along with supporting Iraqi and Kurdish forces on the ground as President Obama plans to send an additional 475 service members to Iraq to continue to train and advise regional forces.

The latter part of President Obama’s scheme is to enhance the counterterrorism capabilities of the intelligence community, this phase will attack key components within the framework of the ISIL organization—targeting their ideology, funding, and to restrict the flow of foreign fighters from the United States and Europe.

Finally, President Obama pledged that humanitarian assistance to innocent civilians would continue as many civilians have been caught within the crossfire of ISIL march through Iraq. “We cannot allow these communities to be driven from their ancient homelands,” President Obama said in reference to the systematic seizure of ground taken by ISIL terrorists.

The Analysis

 

The key phase in President Obama’s strategy will be his expansion of counterterrorism efforts against ISIL. The command structure within the Islamic state currently enjoys over $2 billion dollars in funding, which facilitates their long-term goals of establishing a caliphate within Iraq and Syria, according to a recent report from The Guardian. Intelligence agencies need to target the financial arteries of ISIL that supply a vital lifeline in their ability to continue their operational capabilities and objectives. Drone strikes while effective are only skin deep—it’s imperative to attack ISIL at its roots—Oil is currently ISIL biggest source of revenue due to them controlling multiple oil fields that generate about $3 million in profit for ISIL operations. Regaining control of these natural resources and stemming the flow of logistical support to combatants on the ground will be key in the coalitions fight against the tyranny that is ISIL.