Obama Talks Escalation, But Officials Say ISIS War Strategy Unchanged

President Declares War a 'Generational' Battle

In his latest protracted speech about the ISIS war, President Obama insisted that the war is continuing to go well, citing thousands of ISIS fighters killed, and talked up escalating airstrikes against ISIS in Raqqa, insisting that the recent attacks “proved” ISIS would eventually be destroyed.

That “eventually” could be a long time indeed, as Obama described the conflict as a “generational struggle” that would be one at some unspecified point in the future. In the meantime, it’s all airstrikes, and bragging about body counts.

Pentagon officials, however, say that the basic ISIS war strategy are unchanged, beyond an increase in the number of airstrikes in recent days. Officials continue to maintain that, despite mounting losses on the ground, the existing strategy is the right one.

Despite the length of his comments, Obama actually said very little of import about the war, just rehashing long-standing White House positions that the war is going well enough, irrespective of very visible losses, and that victory is going to eventually happen, even if it is long after his term in office is over.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.