Eurasia Press & News
U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that he will ask Congress for a new authorization to use military force against the Islamic State extremist group.
The president was outlining his near-term agenda for joint work with Congress, one day after the Republicans gained control of both chambers in Tuesday’s midterm elections in a heavy blow to Obama and his fellow Democrats.
“I’m going to begin engaging Congress over a new authorization to use military force against ISIL,” Obama said at a White House press conference, using another acronym for the Islamic State.
“The world needs to know we are united behind this effort, and the men and women of our military deserve our clear and unified support,” he added.
The White House is justifying ongoing U.S.-led airstrikes on the Islamic State targets inside Iraq andSyria with an Iraqi request for assistance and a 2001 congressional authorization to fight terrorists.
Obama said the idea of new authorization is “to rightsize and update whatever authorization Congress provides to suit the current fight, rather than previous fights.”
“It makes sense for us to make sure that the authorization from Congress reflects what we perceive to be not just our strategy over the next two or three months, but our strategy going forward, ” he added.
