The President interrupts your Prime Time at 9PM EDT to tell the nation about his plan to deal with ISIL. The Guardian has a good overview of what to expect from tonight’s speech, because apparently the American outlets are occupied with 1) the optics, 2) the horserace, 3) the appetite of Americans for bloodshed and 4) President Obama’s poll numbers. Sheesh.
Barack Obama will pledge on Wednesday night to “degrade and ultimately destroy” the Islamic State insurgency operating in both Syria and Iraq in an address to the American people expected to herald a significant escalation of the US military role across the region.
Though the exact extent of the anticipated US intervention in Syria remained unclear in the hours leading up to the key speech, White House officials made clear the president planned to pursue a two-pronged strategy on both sides of the border that is likely to build on existing air strikes in Iraq against the group known as Isis or Isil.
“Tonight you will hear from the president how the United States will pursue a comprehensive strategy to degrade and ultimately destroy Isil, including US military action and support for the forces combating Isil on the ground – both the opposition in Syria and a new, inclusive Iraqi government,” said a senior administration official in a statement issued to reporters on Wednesday morning.
“The president will discuss how we are building a coalition of allies and partners in the region and in the broader international community to support our efforts, and will talk about how we work with the Congress as a partner in these efforts.”
Paul Waldman over at the Washington Post has good Questions:
How long is this conflict likely to last?
What are the factors that will affect the success of this mission, and how important is each one?
How will we know when we’ve succeeded enough to leave?
ISIS seems to want nothing more than a confrontation with America. How do we deprive them of whatever they think they’ll gain from that?
What will other countries be doing?
What are the implications of extending our involvement into Syria?
Is it possible that we could raise the danger to the United States even as we degrade ISIS?
He also has the dumb questions (the ones the cable news and Politico will be tackling):
Was Obama sufficiently “tough” and “strong”?
What words did the President use?
Is this going to give Obama a boost in the polls?
Is this conflict going to affect the midterm elections?
Definitely give Waldman’s entire article a read.
The President’s speech should be on a bunch of TV channels, and live streaming from the White House website and CSPAN. If you are watching (or even watching the pre-speech “analysis”), feel free to add your comments and observations below.