Obama reveals action plan against IS

President Barack Obama urged Congress on Wednesday to authorise military action against the Islamic State militants who are cutting a swath across the West Asia, vowing their forces “are going to lose.” Yet he ruled out large-scale U.S. ground combat operations reminiscent of Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I’m convinced that the United States should not get dragged back into another prolonged ground war,” the president said at the White House as he set Congress on a path to its first war-powers vote in 13 years.
Despite his words of reassurance, initial reaction in Congress amounted to bipartisan scepticism, with much of the dissatisfaction centred on his attempt to find a political middle ground with respect to ground forces.
Republicans expressed unhappiness that he had chosen to exclude any long-term commitment of ground forces, while some Democrats voiced dismay that he had opened the door to deployment at all.
Sen. John McCain, a leading Republican, also said Obama had ruled out air support for U.S.-trained rebels battling Syrian President Bashar Assad, adding, “That’s immoral.”
Under Obama’s proposal, the use of military force against Islamic State fighters would be authorized for three years, unbounded by national borders. The fight could be extended to any “closely related successor entity” to the Islamic State organization that has overrun parts of Iraq and Syria, imposed a stern form of Sharia law and killed several hostages it has taken, Americans among them.
“Make no mistake. This is a difficult mission,” Obama said in seeking action against a group that he said threatens America’s own security. He said it will take time to dislodge the terrorists, especially from urban areas. “But our coalition is on the offensive. ISIL is on the defensive, and ISIL is going to lose.”