Obama has authority to strike ISIL in Iraq, Syria: Pelosi
Posted by admin | 10 years ago | 2,657 times
US House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says President Barack Obama has the authority to broaden the military campaign against the ISIL terrorist group in Iraq and Syria without congressional approval.
On Wednesday, Obama said the United States is prepared to expand its bombing campaign against ISIL terrorists and launch airstrikes in Syria. "I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq."
"America will lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat," he added.
On Thursday, Pelosi defended Obama's decision to expand use of force against ISIL militants.
"Yes, I think that the Congress has a role," she said during a press briefing in the Capitol. "What the president is doing now, though, I think he has the legal authority to do.”
“I know he does,” she added. “I've studied this issue for a really long time."
According to the Pentagon, the US has conducted 154 airstrikes against ISIL targets in Iraq.
In recent weeks, manned and unmanned US aircraft have flown surveillance flights and targeted ISIL strongholds.
Washington has also deployed over hundreds of troops to Iraq to bolster security for American diplomats and provide advice to Iraqi government forces fighting the militants.
The ISIL terrorists, who were initially trained by the CIA in Jordan in 2012 to destabilize the Syrian government, control large parts of Syria's northern territory. ISIL sent its fighters into neighboring Iraq in June, quickly seizing large swaths of land straddling the border between the two countries.
According to the White House, the terrorist group recently beheaded American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff in Syria. Foley was reportedly killed last month, and Sotloff was executed early this month.
Former US intelligence official Scott Rickard says Washington is using the “beheadings” of the “journalists” by ISIL to "sway public opinion" in favor of another war in the Middle East.
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