WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Sunday, Obama vowed to defeat the ISIL, also known as Daesh, without resorting to sending troops to fight the terrorist group in Syria and Iraq.
"The president's been clear from the very beginning that this [fight against ISIL] is a longer term proposition and I would not envision a scenario where the United States has completed the mission of destroying ISIL in the next 13 months," Earnest said on Monday.
Earnest noted that the Obama administration still expects to “make progress" in degrading Daesh by going after its leaders, restricting the group’s financing and territory, as well as destroying its infrastructure.
In recent weeks, France, Germany and the United Kingdom have committed to step up their fight against ISIL following the deadly November 13 terrorist attack in Paris that left 130 dead and hundreds of other injured.
