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| Obama Says U.S. Underestimated the Rise of ISIS | Obama Says U.S. Underestimated the Rise of ISIS |
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| WASHINGTON — President Obama acknowledges in an interview to be broadcast Sunday night that the United States underestimated the rise of the Islamic State militant group while placing too much trust in the Iraqi military, allowing the region to become “ground zero for jihadists around the world.” | WASHINGTON — President Obama acknowledges in an interview to be broadcast Sunday night that the United States underestimated the rise of the Islamic State militant group while placing too much trust in the Iraqi military, allowing the region to become “ground zero for jihadists around the world.” |
| In some of his most candid public remarks on the subject, Mr. Obama says in the interview with the CBS News program “60 Minutes” that it was “absolutely true” that the United States had erred in its assessments of both the Islamic State — also known as ISIS or ISIL — and the Iraqi military. | In some of his most candid public remarks on the subject, Mr. Obama says in the interview with the CBS News program “60 Minutes” that it was “absolutely true” that the United States had erred in its assessments of both the Islamic State — also known as ISIS or ISIL — and the Iraqi military. |
| And while describing a range of measures to sharpen military pressure on the extremists, he said that, ultimately, a political outcome was necessary to ease frictions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims “in Iraq and Syria, in particular.” | And while describing a range of measures to sharpen military pressure on the extremists, he said that, ultimately, a political outcome was necessary to ease frictions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims “in Iraq and Syria, in particular.” |
| A political solution there might help ease the broader tensions between the populations that “are the biggest cause of conflict, not just in the Middle East, but in the world,” Mr. Obama said, according to excerpts from the president’s interview with Steve Kroft on the CBS News website. | |
| The president’s comments came as warplanes from the United States and allied Arab countries continued airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria, including some in a besieged Kurdish area of Syria near Turkey, in a campaign that the administration has said could take years. | The president’s comments came as warplanes from the United States and allied Arab countries continued airstrikes on Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria, including some in a besieged Kurdish area of Syria near Turkey, in a campaign that the administration has said could take years. |
| The House speaker, John A. Boehner of Ohio, suggested on Sunday that the airstrike campaign might not be enough to contain and then destroy ISIS, and that American ground forces might ultimately have to be deployed. | |
| “These are barbarians,” Mr. Boehner told George Stephanopoulos on the ABC News program “This Week.” “They intend to kill us. And if we don’t destroy them first, we’re going to pay the price.” | “These are barbarians,” Mr. Boehner told George Stephanopoulos on the ABC News program “This Week.” “They intend to kill us. And if we don’t destroy them first, we’re going to pay the price.” |
| Mr. Stephanopoulos asked, “If no one else will step up, would you recommend putting American boots on the ground?” | Mr. Stephanopoulos asked, “If no one else will step up, would you recommend putting American boots on the ground?” |
| “We have no choice,” said Mr. Boehner, who previously said only that “somebody’s boots have to be on the ground.” | “We have no choice,” said Mr. Boehner, who previously said only that “somebody’s boots have to be on the ground.” |
| Mr. Obama, in the “60 Minutes” interview transcript, reiterates his opposition to deploying any significant number of American ground forces. | Mr. Obama, in the “60 Minutes” interview transcript, reiterates his opposition to deploying any significant number of American ground forces. |
| “We just have to push them back, and shrink their space, and go after their command and control, and their capacity, and their weapons, and their fueling, and cut off their financing, and work to eliminate the flow of foreign fighters,” Mr. Obama said. | “We just have to push them back, and shrink their space, and go after their command and control, and their capacity, and their weapons, and their fueling, and cut off their financing, and work to eliminate the flow of foreign fighters,” Mr. Obama said. |
| The United States, along with most other Western countries, was taken aback by the rapid advances of ISIS as it seized control of sizable territory in Syria and Iraq. Mr. Obama said that the chaos of the Syrian civil war had been a key factor. | The United States, along with most other Western countries, was taken aback by the rapid advances of ISIS as it seized control of sizable territory in Syria and Iraq. Mr. Obama said that the chaos of the Syrian civil war had been a key factor. |
| “Essentially what happened with ISIL was that you had Al Qaeda in Iraq, which was a vicious group, but our Marines were able to quash with the help of Sunni tribes,” he says in the “60 Minutes” transcript. | “Essentially what happened with ISIL was that you had Al Qaeda in Iraq, which was a vicious group, but our Marines were able to quash with the help of Sunni tribes,” he says in the “60 Minutes” transcript. |
| “They went back underground,” he adds, “but over the past couple of years, during the chaos of the Syrian civil war, where essentially you had huge swaths of the country that are completely ungoverned, they were able to reconstitute themselves and take advantage of that chaos.” | “They went back underground,” he adds, “but over the past couple of years, during the chaos of the Syrian civil war, where essentially you had huge swaths of the country that are completely ungoverned, they were able to reconstitute themselves and take advantage of that chaos.” |
| As the group attracted foreign fighters from many countries, Mr. Obama said, “this became ground zero for jihadists around the world.” | As the group attracted foreign fighters from many countries, Mr. Obama said, “this became ground zero for jihadists around the world.” |
| Even as attention focused on the Islamic State, United States intelligence agencies were still trying to determine whether the initial wave of airstrikes in Syria killed the leader of a separate network affiliated with Al Qaeda called the Khorasan Group. The SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist social media sites, reported on Sunday that a Qaeda-associated Twitter account declared that Mohsin al-Fadhli, the Khorasan leader, had died. | |
| American officials said they believed that a senior Khorasan figure had been killed but were not sure whether it was Mr. Fadhli or Abu Yusef al-Turki. They were hopeful that both had been hit, but added that it was unlikely both were killed. | |
| An intelligence report distributed at the White House on Sunday said there were indications beyond the Twitter traffic that Mr. Fadhli had been killed but not enough to be conclusive. Officials said they worried that the Twitter reports were part of a disinformation campaign to throw off the Americans. | |
| Anthony Blinken, the deputy national security adviser, was asked about the reports on “Fox News Sunday.” | |
| “We can’t confirm it,” Mr. Blinken said. “We’re obviously trying to dig into this, get confirmation; we want to make sure that he’s not trying to, in effect, fake his death and go underground, but there are serious indicators that he was removed. | |
| “It would be significant, he’s a significant leader of the ISIL effort and, in terms of taking away some of their command and control, their leadership, the direction that they have, it would be significant.” |