'Absolutely no ceasefire' in fight against Daesh, Obama says

US President Barack Obama says the United States will continue its fight against the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist group in Iraq and Syria until it ceases to exist.

“There will be absolutely no ceasefire in our fight against ISIL,” Obama said in his weekly address on Saturday. “We’ll remain relentless.”

“Beyond Syria and Iraq, we continue to use the full range of our tools to go after ISIL wherever it tries to take root, as we showed with our strike on an ISIL training camp in Libya,” he added.

“With partners around the world, we’ll continue discrediting the ideology that ISIL uses to radicalize, recruit and inspire people to violence, especially online,” Obama continued.

He vowed that the US-led international coalition would ultimately obliterate the extremist group over time.

“Our 66-nation coalition, including our Arab partners, continues to grow stronger,” Obama said. “More nations are making contributions.”

“Every day, our air campaign – more than 10,000 strikes so far – continues to destroy ISIL forces. And we continue to go after ISIL leaders and commanders – taking them out, day in, day out, one after another after another,” he stated.

Foreign war against Syria 

Since March 2011, the United States and its regional allies, in particular Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey, have been conducting a proxy war against Syria. The years-long conflict has left somewhere between 270,000 to 470,000 Syrians dead and half of the country’s population displaced.

In September 2014, the US and some of its allies started conducting airstrikes inside Syria against Daesh terrorists, many of whom were initially trained by the CIA to fight against the Syrian government. However, observers say the attacks did little damage to the terrorists; rather, they targeted the country’s infrastructure.

In September of last year, Russia launched its own air offensive against the terrorists who were still wreaking havoc in Syria. The Russian campaign, analysts say, has broken the backbone of ISIL and other militants, and has provided the government of President Bashar al-Assad an opportunity to defeat the foreign-sponsored terrorist onslaught.

Earlier this week, a cessation of hostilities was announced by the US and Russia in Syria following weeks of negotiations between the two countries. The landmark two-week ceasefire took effect on Friday midnight.

'Ceasefire will stall Daesh momentum'

Obama said the cessation of hostilities in Syria would stall terrorist group’s momentum.

“The only way to deal ISIL a lasting defeat is to end the civil war and chaos in Syria upon which ISIL thrives,” he said. “A cessation of hostilities in the civil war is expected to take effect this weekend.”

“All parties must end attacks, including aerial bombardment,” the president added. “Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach areas under siege.”

Obama said a lot will depend on whether the Syrian government, Russia and their allies meet their commitments. “The coming hours and days will be critical, and the world is watching.”

In remarks after a rare meeting with his national security team on Thursday, Obama called on Russia and the Syrian government to honor the negotiated ceasefire, warning that the “world will be watching.”

Obama renewed his call for the Syrian president to step down, saying there is no alternative to his removal. “It's the only way to end the civil war and unite the Syrian people against terrorists.”

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