Obama asks Congress to authorize war vs. ISIS

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – The last time Congress voted to give a president formal authority for a military operation was in 2002, when it supported George W. Bush in his campaign to attack Iraq.

Since then about 7,000 US troops have lost their lives.

Now President Barack Obama has requested Congress to formally authorize him to use military action against the Islamic State extremist group.

Obama seeks a new three-year plan against ISIS that allows for the limited use of ground troops.

His administration insists that it already has the authority to launch airstrikes against ISIS as the US has been doing for months.

But Obama wants Congress to formally approve it.

He faces some opposition, though. Some Democrats want tighter restrictions set on where he can send troops and how long this authority will last.

His Republican critics, on the other hand, want a clearer picture of how to defeat ISIS; a group whose ranks are growing by the day.

US intelligence officials say 20,000 foreign fighters are coming to Syria and Iraq to join ISIS, including at least 3,400 from western nations.

“I’m not sure the strategy that’s been outlined will accomplish the mission the president said he wants to accomplish,” Republican House Speaker John Boehner said. “At this point, the president says he wants to dismantle and destroy ISIS. I haven’t seen a strategy yet that I think will accomplish that.”

Sen. Ted Cruz, D-Texas, a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2016, accuses the Obama administration of being too soft against the terror group.

He says the solution to ISIS is to hunt down and kill the terrorist leaders.

“But when you have an administration that will not utter the words ‘radical Islamic terrorists’, you have an administration that is unwilling to effectively design and implement a strategy to defeat radical Islamic terrorists,” Cruz said.

Meantime, Obama admits the military did plan a risky rescue of American aid worker Kayla Mueller, who was being held hostage by ISIS. But he said it failed.

“I deployed an entire operation, at significant risk, to rescue not only her but the other individuals who had been held, and probably missed them by a day or two — precisely because we had that commitment.”

Those who support President Obama’s efforts to contain ISIS say Congress needs to authorize the use of military force.

They say America’s enemies and allies need to know that the nation’s leaders are united in this fight against terror.

You can contact Henni Espinosa at henna_espinosa@abs-cbn.com for more information.