Skip to main content (Press Enter).
 News
    
        Photos

    Week in Photos

    Air Force TV

    Commentaries

    Features

    Art

    About Us
    
        Air Force Senior Leaders
    
        SECAF

    CSAF

    CMSAF

    Biographies

    Fact Sheets

    SECAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library
    
        CSAF Leadership Library 2022

    CSAF Leadership Library 2021

    CSAF Reading List Pre-2020 Archive
    
        2018 CSAF Reading List

    2017 CSAF Reading List

    2016 CSAF Reading List

    CSAF Leadership Library 2023

    CMSAF Leadership Library

    50 Years of the CMSAF

    Adjunct Professors

    Air Force Strategic Documents

    Arctic Strategy

    Empowered Airmen

    State Licensure Portability

    Careers

    AF Federal Advisory Committees

    AF 75th Anniversary

    Policy Updates

    AF Content Management

    Contact Us

    AF Sites
    
        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Obama: U.S., allies will redouble efforts in wake of ISIL attacksPublished Nov. 16, 2015
                    
                    By Jim Garamone
                    
                    
                    DoD News, Defense Media Activity
            **WASHINGTON (AFNS) --**The G-20 meeting in Antalya, Turkey, that ended Nov. 16 was supposed to address the economy. But the Nov. 13 terrorist attack on Paris changed that agenda, and President Barack Obama pledged to redouble efforts against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
ISIL took credit for the attacks on Paris that killed 129 people and wounded more than 350. On Nov. 15, French aircraft bombed ISIL’s quasi-capital city of Raqqa in Syria.
“We’re working closely with our French partners as they pursue their investigations and track down suspects,” the president said during a news conference. “France is already a strong counterterrorism partner, and today we’re announcing a new agreement. We’re streamlining the process by which we share intelligence and operational military information with France.”
Paris was just the latest attack; ISIL hit Beirut last week and Turkey last month. The terror group also claimed to have planted a bomb aboard a Russian airliner that crashed in Sinai.
“Here at the G-20, our nations have sent an unmistakable message: that we are united against this threat,” Obama said. “ISIL is the face of evil. Our goal, as I’ve said many times, is to degrade and ultimately destroy this barbaric terrorist organization.”
Obama said the effort will use all elements of power to take out the group: military, diplomatic, law enforcement and economic. He cautioned that this strategy will take time to be effective.**Taking back significant territory**
“There will be setbacks and there will be successes,” he said. “The terrible events in Paris were obviously a terrible and sickening setback. Even as we grieve with our French friends, however, we can’t lose sight that there has been progress being made.”
Airstrikes and allies on the ground have taken back significant territory in both Iraq and Syria from ISIL, he noted.
“We’ve seen that when we have an effective partner on the ground, ISIL can (be) and is pushed back, so local forces in Iraq, backed by coalition air power, recently liberated Sinjar,” he said. “Iraqi forces are fighting to take back Ramadi. In Syria, ISIL has been pushed back from much of the border region with Turkey. We've stepped up our support of opposition forces who are working to cut off supply lines to ISIL strongholds in and around Raqqa.”
But this must be sustained, the president said. “More nations need to step up with the resources that this fight demands,” he added.
The G-20 nations agreed to strengthen border controls, share more information and step up efforts to prevent the flow of foreign fighters in and out of Syria and Iraq.**Enormous pressure on ISIL**
“We have a military strategy that involves putting enormous pressure on ISIL through airstrikes, that has put assistance and training on the ground with Iraqi forces,” Obama said. “We’re now working with Syrian forces as well to squeeze ISIL, cut off their supply lines.”
The president noted success from authorizing additional U.S. special operations forces on the ground to work with Syrian and Iraqi forces against ISIL.
The United States is reaching out to all in the anti-ISIL effort, the president said. He is reaching out to Russia and Iran, who are supporting the Bashar Assad regime in Syria, explaining “that ultimately, an organization like ISIL is the greatest danger to them, as well as to us.”
Obama added, “There will be an intensification of the strategy we put forward, but the strategy that we are putting forward is the strategy that ultimately is going to work.”airstrikes 



Operation Inherent Resolve 



ISIL Featured News
        Senior Leader Priorities
                SecAF Kendall visits Bangor ANG Base
                    
                    Vice President Harris congratulates USAFA Class of ‘24
                    
                    Senate confirms Melissa Dalton as next Under Secretary of the Air Force
                    
                    ‘One Team, One Fight’: SecAF visits Keesler AFB
                    
                    SecAF Kendall experiences VISTA of future flight test at Edwards AFBInnovation
                AFSFC reaches final phase of fielding Model Defender gear
                    
                    Around the Air Force: PCS Allowances, Air Task Forces, All-Volunteer Force
                    
                    AFIMSC focuses I-WEPTAC topics on GPC solutions
                    
                    Optimizing AI, Air University hosts Artificial Intelligence Symposium
                    
                    AFIMSC tools deliver data-driven solutions across DAFMAJCOM News
                AFMC to expand AcqDemo workforce
                    
                    AFMC empowers small businesses for Air Force reoptimization
                    
                    Acquisition Instructor Course Class 25A open for nominations
                    
                    Air Guard leaders host 2024 Wing Leader Conference
                    
                    Referral bonuses aim to help fill mission-critical vacancies
 Quick Links
AccessibilityContact UsEqual OpportunityFOIA | Privacy | Section 508Information QualityInspector GeneralJAG Court-Martial DocketLink DisclaimerNo FEAR ActOpen GovernmentOSI Tip LinePlain LanguageQuestionsResilienceRSSSite MapVeterans Crisis LineCareers
Join the Air ForceAir Force BenefitsAir Force CareersAir Force ReserveAir National GuardCivilian ServiceConnect
            Get Social with Us
            
            Official United States Air Force Website
    Hosted by Defense Media Activity - WEB.mil