The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
October 14, 2014
Remarks by the President After Meeting with Chiefs of Defense
Joint Base Andrews
3:31 P.M. EDT
THE PRESIDENT: Well, good afternoon, everybody. I want
to thank Chairman Dempsey for bringing us here together to review
coalition operations to degrade and to ultimately destroy ISIL. I want
to thank General Austin of Central Command, and General Votel, down at
the end, of Special Operations Command for their outstanding leadership
as well.
At this stage, some 60 nations are contributing to this
coalition, including more than 20 coalition members who are represented
here today -- among them, Iraq, Arab nations, Turkey, NATO Allies, and
partners from the world. So this is an operation that involves the
world against ISIL.
So far, we’ve seen some important successes: Stopping
ISIL’s advance on Erbil. Saving many civilians from a massacre on Mount
Sinjar. Retaking the Mosul Dam. Destroying ISIL targets and fighters
across Iraq and Syria.
Obviously, at this point, we’re also focused on the
fighting that is taking place in Iraq’s Anbar Province, and we’re deeply
concerned about the situation in and around the Syrian town of Kobani,
which underscores the threat that ISIL poses in both Iraq and Syria.
And coalition airstrikes will continue in both these areas.
One of the things that has emerged from the discussions,
both before I came and during my visit here, is that this is going to be
a long-term campaign. There are not quick fixes involved. We’re still
at the early stages. As with any military effort, there will be days
of progress and there are going to be periods of setback.
But our coalition is united behind this long-term effort.
Our nations agree that ISIL poses a significant threat to the people of
Iraq and Syria. It poses a threat to surrounding countries. And
because of the numbers of foreign fighters that are being attracted, and
the chaos that ISIL was creating in the region, ultimately it will pose
a threat beyond the Middle East, including to the United States,
Europe, and far-flung countries like Australia that have already seen
terrorist networks trying to infiltrate and impact population centers on
the other side of the world.
So we are united in our goal to degrade and ultimately
destroy ISIL so that it’s no longer a threat to Iraq, to the region, or
the international community. But one of the things that’s also been
emphasized here today is this is not simply a military campaign. This
is not a classic army in which we defeat them on the battlefield and
then they ultimately surrender. What we’re also fighting is an
ideological strain of extremism that has taken root in too many parts of
the region. We are dealing with sectarianism and political divisions
that for too long have been a primary political, organizational rallying
point in the region. We’re dealing with economic deprivation and lack
of opportunity among too many young people in the region.
And so one of the interesting things to hear from our
military leadership is the recognition that this cannot simply be a
military campaign. This has to be a campaign that includes all the
dimensions of our power. We have to do a better job of communicating an
alternative vision for those who are currently attracted to the
fighting inside Iraq and Syria. It is going to be absolutely critical
to make sure that the political inclusion that Prime Minister Abadi of
Iraq is committed to is actually translated into real progress. It’s
going to require us developing and strengthening a moderate opposition
inside of Syria that is in a position then to bring about the kind of
legitimacy and sound governance for all people inside of Syria.
And so, in addition to denying ISIL safe haven in Iraq and
Syria, in addition to stopping foreign fighters, in addition to the
intelligence gathering and airstrikes and ground campaigns that may be
developed by the Iraqi security forces, we’re also going to have to pay
attention to communications. We’re going to have to pay attention to
how all the countries in the region begin to cooperate in rooting out
this cancer. And we’re going to have to continue to deliver on the
humanitarian assistance of all the populations that have been affected.
And we have three countries here -- Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey -- who
obviously are bearing an extraordinary burden from the displaced persons
not just recently over the last few months, but for several years now
as a consequence of the civil war in Syria. That all plays a part in
this campaign.
But I want to thank all the nations who are represented
here in what is a growing coalition. I’m encouraged by the unanimity of
viewpoints and the commitment of the countries involved to make sure
that we’re making steady progress.
Before I close, I do want to say something about another
topic that’s obviously attracted a lot of attention, and that is the
situation with Ebola. We have made enormous strides in just a few short
weeks in standing up a U.S. military operation in Western Africa that
can start building the kind of transport lines and supply lines to get
workers, supplies, medicine, equipment into Liberia, Sierra Leone and
Guinea. And a number of the countries who are represented here are
really stepping up and doing what’s necessary in order for us to contain
this epidemic.
But as I’ve said before, and I’m going to keep on
repeating until we start seeing more progress, the world as a whole is
not doing enough. There are a number of countries that have capacity
that have not yet stepped up. Those that have stepped up, all of us are
going to have to do more -- because unless we contain this at the
source, this is going to continue to pose a threat to individual
countries at a time when there’s no place that’s more than a couple of
air flights away. And the transmission of this disease obviously
directly threats all our populations.
In addition, we have not only a humanitarian crisis in
West Africa that threatens hundreds of thousands of lives, but we also
have the secondary effects of destabilization, economically and
politically, that could lead to more severe problems down the road.
So everybody is going to have to do more than they’re
doing right now. And I am reaching out directly to heads of state and
government who, I believe, have the capacities to do more. I spoke
yesterday with Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who agrees that everybody
has to do more. And I can assure everybody that the United States will
continue to do its part.
With respect to Ebola here in the United States, we are
surging resources into Dallas to examine what exactly has happened that
ended up infecting the nurse there. Obviously, our thoughts and prayers
are with her and all the courageous health care workers around the
country who put themselves in challenging situations in treating this
disease. We are going to make sure that all the lessons learned from
Dallas are then applied to hospitals and health centers around the
country.
As I’ve said before, we have a public health
infrastructure and systems and support that make an epidemic here highly
unlikely. But obviously one case is too many, and we’ve got to keep on
doing everything we can, particularly to protect our health care
workers because they’re on the front lines in battling this disease.
And we’ve also now instituted some additional screening measures,
starting at JFK Airport, that will then apply to a number of other
airports where we know the bulk of travelers that may have come in
contact with Ebola would be coming through. We’re confident that we’re
going to be able to put those in place in the days ahead.
But in the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are with the
nurse, who, like so many nurses and health care workers around the
country, day in, day out do what they need to do, sometimes at some risk
to themselves, in order to provide the kind of care that we all depend
on. We need to eliminate those risks for them, and we’re confident that
we can build the protocols and make sure that they are observed
carefully to avoid additional repeats of what’s happened in Dallas.
But we’re going to be as vigilant as we need to be in
order to make sure that this disease is properly contained. The best
way for us to do that, though, is also to make sure and understand that
what happens in West Africa has an impact here in the United States and
in all the other countries that are represented here.
So thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.
END
3:41 P.M. EDT
iraq
