Speaking about the Paris attacks at the G20 summit in Turkey, US President Barack Obama defends his strategy against the Islamic State.
President Barack Obama has angrily denied that he has been blind and unresponsive to the threat posed by Islamic State , and insisted that sending American troops into Syria would be the wrong thing to do.
“Given the fact that there are enormous sacrifices involved in any military action, it's best that we don't shoot first and aim later,” he said.
“It's important for us to get the strategy right and the strategy that we are pursuing is the right one.”
Mr Obama's defiant remarks, at the G20 summit in
Turkey , came just hours after America's capital was threatened by Isil, a group he described as "killers with fantasies of glory".
"As we struck France in the centre of its abode in Paris, then we swear that we will strike America at its centre in Washington," a video released by Isil on Monday reportedly said.
And, in the climate of fear and anger that has followed the Paris attacks, Mr Obama has been harshly criticised by his political adversaries for perceived weakness in the face of terror, with Republican presidential candidates including Donald Trump and Ted Cruz suggesting that Mr Obama, through a lack of judgement or leadership, has allowed Isil to prosper on his watch.
His voice icy, Mr Obama hit back, accusing critics of his policy of “posing” while failing to provide any constructive alternative to his plan.
“I’m too busy for that,” he said, adding that his regular visits to military hospitals - where he met young people seriously injured in battles he sent them to - had left him in no doubt about the cost of war.
“Folks want to pop off and have opinions about what they think they would do - present a specific plan.
“If they think that somehow their advisers are better than the chairman of my joint chiefs of staff and the folks who are actually on the ground, I want to meet them.”
And he rounded on people who said that sending in troops would make a difference, saying that sending in 50,000 American troops may defeat Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) temporarily, but not secure a long-term solution.
Obama holds a press conference following the G20 summit in Antalya, Turkey (Getty)
“We can retake territory. And as long as we leave our troops there, we can hold it,” he said. “But that does not solve the underlying problem of eliminating the dynamics that are producing these kinds of violent extremist groups.”
Mr Obama repeatedly stressed that defeating Isil would take time, and rejected accusations that he was dithering.
“If there was a swift and quick solution to this, I assure you that not just the United States, but France and Turkey and others who have been subject to these terrorist attacks would have implemented those strategies,” he said, adding that America’s weakening of al Qaeda was proof that he was not sitting back and letting jihadists roam free.
“Some of them seem to think that, if I was just more bellicose in expressing what we're doing, that that would make a difference,” he said. “Because that seems to be the only thing that they're doing, is talking as if they're tough.”
Paris attacks: How the night of horror unfolded
Following his remarks, there were immediate charges that defensiveness was not the correct tone for a president after an ally had been attacked.
Mitt Romney, who Mr Obama defeated in the 2012 general election, said he was "tired" of Mr Obama's "dissembling."
"No one calling for massive troop intervention. Instead calling for winning strategy to replace current failure," he wrote on Twitter.
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