"We are going to achieve our goal. We are going to degrade and ultimately defeat ISIL."
Tough talk from President Obama on the militant group known as ISIS, which has brutally seized territory in Iraq and Syria over the past few months. Speaking at the NATO summit in Wales, the President vowed to dismantle ISIS and their capability to spread terror.
Obama's strong rhetoric could be a response to another comment on ISIS he made during an earlier press conference.
PRESIDENT OBAMA VIA C-SPAN: "I don't want to put the cart before the horse. We don't have a strategy yet."
That remark drew immediate backlash from critics who accused the President of a weak response to the threat ISIS poses. Obama took a much firmer stance during the summit, outlining a general plan of action and calling on European and Middle Eastern nations to help destroy the group.
The president's tough rhetoric was backed up by Secretary of State John Kerry, who helped organize a 10-nation "core coalition" on the sidelines of the summit.
The New York Times reports that the coalition is mostly focused on supporting regional allies in Iraq and Syria, rather than taking ISIS head-on. One source said NATO members were still looking at a "political-led strategy" rather than military action.
But most of this summit was focused not on ISIS, but on Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine. NATO members agreed to establish a "spearhead" force to deal with any similar threats, as well as additional sanctions to levy against Russia if the conflict worsens. (Video via Vice)
But as far as ISIS, the "core coalition" agreement hasn't agreed to anything nearly as substantive — but world leaders, including U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron, are adamant that NATO is committed to presenting a unified front against ISIS.
"There were no real divisions here. The NATO alliance is clear about the threat that we face, the scale of that threat, and the fact that we must use all of the instruments at our disposal."
Secretary Kerry told reporters the coalition should develop a plan against ISIS by two weeks time, when the United Nations Security Council reconvenes.
This video contains images from U.S. Department of State.
