Republicans are calling for President Barack Obama to present a detailed strategy to Congress on how the U.S. plans to defeat Islamic militants in Iraq and Syria ahead of his primetime address to the nation Wednesday.
“It's time for President Obama to exercise some leadership in launching a response,” Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said on the Senate floor Tuesday.
Obama plans to outline the details of how the U.S. will take on the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria during an address to the nation from the Senate floor at 9 p.m. on Wednesday. He was roundly criticized last month after saying America does not have a strategy to defeat ISIS in Syria.
House Speaker John Boehner told reporters Tuesday that he is looking for the president to be clear about how America will neutralize the ISIS threat, but would not say if he supports putting troops on the ground to engage the militants.
“Until there is a strategy, there is no reason to talk about any of the specifics,” Boehner said.
Obama will meet with Congressional leadership on Tuesday to discuss the terror group.
The president said on “Meet The Press” that U.S. troops will not be deployed to fight ISIS and that the strategy will be “similar to the kinds of counterterrorism campaigns that we've been engaging in consistently over the last five, six, seven years.”
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-- Andrew Rafferty
