Obama Vows to Punish Islamic State
President Obama speaking at a press conference in Estonia Wednesday, promised to punish the Islamic State militants who beheaded two American Journalists recently.
The Islamic State had released a video Tuesday,showing the execution of a U.S. Journalist Steven Sotloff. The group had released a similar video three weeks ago, which showed the killing of another American Journalist, James Foley.
Speaking at the news conference in the Estonian capital, Tallinn, Obama said that the U.S. will not be intimidated by such actions. The terrible deeds by the Islamic State will only serve to unite the country and harden its determination in fighting the terrorists, he said, reports The New York Times.
President Obama said that the US objective is to humiliate and destroy the Islamic State in such a way that it will not be a threat to Iraq, the Middle East and to the U.S.
"It's not only that we're going to be bringing to justice those who perpetrated this terrible crime against these two fine young men.The United States will continue to lead a regional and international effort against the kind of barbaric and ultimately empty vision of the group," Obama said, reports The New York Times.
He said that the murderers of Sotloff have already failed even though they think that they will accomplish something by killing innocent Americans like him.
The killing of Sotloff puts pressure on President Obama to go for military strikes against Islamic State in Syria. But Obama said that he was not prepared to order it as he wanted to be certain about the mission's success. He also wanted support from partners at home and abroad for any military action.
During the news conference, Obama expressed condolences to Steven Sotloff's family.
"We cannot even begin to imagine the agony that everyone who loves Steven is feeling right now, especially his mother, his father and his younger sister. So today our country grieves with them," Obama said, reports The Washington Post.
