“The United States is at war with ISIL in the same way that we are at war with Al-Qaeda and its Al-Qaeda affiliates all around the globe.” These were the words of the White House, United States spokesman, Josh Earnest today.
In a series of interviews before now, the Secretary of State, John Kerry appeared to be reluctant to term the expansion of US operations against IS in Iraq and Syria as “war.”
But pressed to clear up doubts about how President Barack Obama sees the conflict, the White House and Pentagon left little doubt.
Pentagon spokesman, Rear Admiral John Kirby said that the US was not fighting the last Iraq war and used similar language to Earnest.
“But make no mistake, we know we are at war with ISIL in the same way we’re at war and continue to be at war with Al-Qaida and its affiliates,” he said.
Obama is scheduled to be in Tampa, Florida Wednesday next week to receive a briefing from top commanders at US Central Command, which oversees American forces in the Middle East.
In interviews, as Kerry toured the Middle East building an anti-IS coalition, he was reluctant to use the term “war” in referring to the US campaign, telling people not to indulge in “war fever.”
“We’re engaged in a major counter terrorism operation, and it’s going to be a long-term counter terrorism operation,” Kerry told CBS News.
“I think ‘war’ is the wrong terminology and analogy but the fact is that we are engaged in a very significant global effort to curb terrorist activity,” Kerry said.
[myad]
