WASHINGTON—In a speech at the Pentagon on Monday US President Barack Obama said that progress has been made in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS), with coalition airstrikes and local forces on the ground.
“Altogether, ISIL has lost over a quarter of the populated areas it had seized in Iraq,” said Obama. “ISIL's strategic weaknesses are real.”
Obama said that local groups on the ground have proven effective in pushing back ISIS in many areas, mentioning Kirkuk, Mosul Dam, Tikrit, and Kobani as examples.
“In the past year we've seen when we have effective partners on the ground, ISIL can be pushed back,” Obama said.
Obama vowed that all elements of American power would be involved in fighting the extremist organization.
The US President said that ISIS is posing a threat to all countries in the region and therefore all nations need to do more in order to defeat the group militarily and ideologically.
“This is not simply a military effort,” he said. “Ideologies are not defeated by guns. They're defeated with better ideas.”
He added: “In order for us to defeat terrorist groups like ISIL and al-Qaeda, we must discredit their ideology. This broader challenge of countering violent extremism,”
Obama who said that the US is not in war with Islam, said that efforts should be made to stem the flow of foreign fighters into Iraq and Syria.
“Ideologies are not defeated with guns, they are defeated by better ideas. We will never be at war with Islam,” he said.
Obama said that the US has stepped up its fight against ISIS' online recruitment efforts and he encouraged countries with large Muslim populations to increase economic opportunities for young people to prevent them from joining radical groups.
“This larger battle for hearts and minds is going to be a generational struggle,” Obama said.
