Obama Says His Comment About Extremists Being a JV Team "Wasn’t Specifically Referring To" Islamic State
Photo Credit: APBy Steve Contorno, Politifact.
President Barack Obama granted an exclusive sit down to Meet the Press for new host Chuck Todd’s inaugural show.
As expected, Todd and Obama had a long discussion about the administration’s strategy for dealing with Islamic State, the terrorist group responsible for the beheading of two American journalists, with Obama stating “we’re going to defeat them.”
Todd then remarked that Obama’s response was a “long way from when you described them as a JV team.”
“Was that bad intelligence or your misjudgment?” Todd asked.
“Keep in mind I wasn’t specifically referring to (Islamic State),” Obama replied. “I’ve said that, regionally, there were a whole series of organizations that were focused primarily locally, weren’t focused on homeland, because I think a lot of us, when we think about terrorism, the model is Osama bin Laden and 9/11.”
Read more from this story HERE.
_________________________________________________________________
On ISIS, Ted Cruz Tells President Obama to ‘Take Them Out’
By JEFF ZELENY and ARLETTE SAENZ.
Sen. Ted Cruz accused President Obama of underestimating and misjudging the threat posed by ISIS, but said he should seek congressional approval before deciding whether to escalate the military campaign against the Islamic extremists.
“What we ought to have is a directed, concerted, overwhelming campaign to take them out,” Cruz said in an interview on “This Week.” “The focus should be Iraq, but the real focus should be taking out ISIS. Within Syria, it should not be our objective to try and resolve the civil war.”
Cruz, a Texas Republican, said the president “has not demonstrated that he’s taking ISIS seriously.” Even as Cruz delivered a blistering critique of the administration’s foreign policy, he conceded that Republicans have their own foreign policy debate unfolding inside their party, which he said makes him more inclined to seek the presidency.
“The American people in 2014 and also November 2016 are going to be looking for leaders who want to work to restore America’s leadership in the world,” Cruz said.
When pressed whether the challenges abroad made him more inclined to open his own bid for the Republican presidential nomination, he declared: “It increases my interest in doing everything I can to change the direction we’re on.”
Read more from this story HERE.