President Obama vows: We will crush Islamic State terrorists

President Obama today pledged to lead a coalition to crush Islamic State terrorists “wherever they exist” in a striking shift in policy that is likely to have far reaching consequences for the Middle East.

Speaking in a TV address marking the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the President authorised air strikes inside Syria for the first time and deployed 500 US troops to Iraq in a training role.

He continued to rule out sending US ground troops against IS (also known as ISIL) militants, but his move put America back in the heat of the region’s conflicts that Mr Obama had battled to extricate his nation from.

“We will hunt down terrorists who threaten our country, wherever they are,” vowed the President. “This is a core principle of my presidency: If you threaten America, you will find no safe haven. This counter-terrorism campaign will be waged through a steady, relentless effort to take out ISIL wherever they exist, using our air power and our support for partner forces on the ground.”

In London, sources close to David Cameron said the Prime Minister agreed about the importance of tackling Islamic State fanatics in Syria. No 10, however, was stressing the importance of a political solution in Syria and the importance of local support for any Western military action. Britain has stepped up its intervention in Iraq, delivering arms at the request of the Baghdad government, and is not ruling out air strikes in support of a representative Iraq government. But Mr Cameron has struck a cautious tone about Syria. Mr Obama’s speech left a series of question marks, including whether US action could have the side-effect of propping up the regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad.

Tory MP John Baron cautioned: “Air strikes into Syria are fraught with risks. The legal, technical and military differences between strikes in Iraq and Syria are marked. The UK should be advising caution.”

Mr Obama made clear that the new campaign would take years, casting a long shadow over his White House successor’s presidency.

“We continue to face a terrorist threat,” he added. “We cannot erase every trace of evil from the world, and small groups of killers have the capacity to do great harm.” The President has sent extra troops to advise and assist beleaguered Iraqi security forces, bringing the total number of US forces posted there this summer to 1,500.

He also asked the US Congress to endorse plans to arm and train Syrian rebels who are fighting both IS forces and President Assad’s loyalists.

Mr Obama’s tough stance followed criticism in the US of a lukewarm response to the horrific video-taped beheadings of two US journalists by IS thugs and a muddled plan on how to pierce the terror group’s strongholds in Syria.