White House: Yes, this is a war against ISIS (More than 1,600 troops on ground in Iraq)

[morningfog]

A day after Secretary of State John Kerry cautioned against "war fever," administration officials on Friday said the U.S. is indeed waging a war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS, otherwise known as ISIL).

However, the administration is still trying to draw a distinction between this new "war" and the previous war the U.S. waged in Iraq, which included putting American troops on the ground in Iraq for combat operations.

"The United States is at war with ISIL in the same way that we are at war with al Qaeda and its al Qaeda affiliates all around the globe," White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Friday.

"The president has been clear that American ground combat troops would not be deployed into Iraq and Syria," Earnest said. "The president has indicated how serious he is about building a true international coalition where you will have governments in the region and our allies around the world contributing to this broader effort to deny ISIL a safe haven in Iraq and Syria."

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/white-house-yes-this-is-a-war-against-isis/

With 158 airstrikes carried out on ISIS targets and more than 1,600 troops deployed to Iraq in various capacities, Secretary of State John Kerry told ABC News Thursday that the nation was not in fact at war with the militant group, which has seized vast territory in Syria and Iraq. “No. Look, we’re engaged in a counterterrorism operation of a significant order,” Kerry said. “And counterterrorism operations can take a long time, they go on. I think ‘war’ is the wrong reference term with respect to that, but obviously it involves kinetic military action.” National Security Advisor Susan Rice weighed in Thursday to CNN that “I think, frankly, this is a counterterrorism operation that will take time.”

But by Friday afternoon, the White House and the Pentagon were reversing course. “Make no mistake, we know we are at war with [ISIS], in the same way we are at war, and continue to be at war, with al-Qaeda and its affiliates,” Pentagon Press Secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said, referencing a long-term, largely-airborne campaign against the terrorist group.

http://time.com/3341270/isis-war-obama-iraq-terrorism-isil/

[NYC_SKP]

1. Good Job, Mr. President and SOS Kerry.

However, I wish one could say that there's an end in sight.

This has, apparently, never been the cased in the Middle East during the last several centuries.

But for oil, we'd never have been there, IMO.

[mwrguy]

2. But it's not a "war" war

"We're engaged in a major counterterrorism operation, and it's going to be a long-term counterterrorism operation. I think war is the wrong terminology and analogy but the fact is that we are engaged in a very significant global effort to curb terrorist activity," Kerry told the network.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/john-kerry-no-need-for-war-fever-in-isis-operations/

[Aerows]

3. "It's not war"

"It's military forces coming together."

[Autumn]

7. Our military dropping bombs and missiles is not war

alrighty then.

[leftstreet]

4. They're in the area...and east, west, south, and north somewhat.

Whoops, wrong war

“Make no mistake, we know we are at war with , in the same way we are at war, and continue to be at war, with al-Qaeda and its affiliates,”

Jaysus! Does Sarah Palin write the scripts for these people?

[morningfog]

6. We've always been at war with eur-ISIS.

[Fred Sanders]

5. ISIS certainly would think 150+ air strikes means America is at war with them.

Debating semantics again.......