Obama says soldiers won't see ground combat against IS in Iraq

Barack Obama says the US will cooperate with other nations to fight the "Islamic State." The president has ordered airstrikes to halt IS fighters who made rapid advances earlier this year as Iraqi forces melted away.

After meeting with the US military's Central Command Wednesday, Obama told the assembled soldiers from all branches of the services that he would not send them to fight a ground war against the "Islamic State" (IS). He added that more than 40 countries would help to battle the group: "This is not and will not be America's fight alone."

"We're going to degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL," Obama said on Wednesday, using an alternative acronym for the group's former name, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. However, Obama told the assembled soldiers, "as your commander-in-chief, I will not commit you and the rest of our armed forces to fighting another war in Iraq."

Last week, Obama authorized US strikes in Syria, where IS fighters have established themselves during the country's three-year civil war. The United States has also begun work to build a broad international coalition to take on IS.

'The end-all solution'

Attending the Conference of European Armies in Wiesbaden, Germany, General Ray Odierno, who commanded US troops in Iraq from 2008 to 2010, told reporters Wednesday that airstrikes had stopped IS's advance in Iraq, but they would not prove "the end-all solution." He added that "they are a threat regionally and I believe they are a potential future threat both to Europe and the United States, so it is important for us to deal with that threat now with our international partners."

Obama's and Odierno's comments come as US politicians have publicly worried that IS could launch an attack within the country's borders. However, calling IS "an extremely dangerous organization" on Wednesday, US Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson told a congressional panel that agencies had no evidence that the group had actively planned an attack in the United States.

"Though we know of no credible information that ISIL is planning to attack the homeland at present, we know that ISIL is prepared to kill innocent Americans they encounter because they are Americans - in a public and depraved manner," Johnson said. The United States and Europe had also expanded efforts to track foreign fighters, he added.

Earlier Wednesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel received assurances in Berlin from the Emir of Qatar that his country did not support militant groups such as IS. The meeting follows reports that German citizens had carried out suicide attacks on behalf of the group in Iraq.

mkg/rc (Reuters, AFP, dpa, AP)  dw de