Obama pushes plan to defeat Islamic State, needs $500B from Congress for part of it - USNEWS

President Obama is attempting to increase momentum for his campaign to confront and destroy Islamic extremists in the Middle East.

Some Arab countries have offered to help conduct air strikes against the extremists, U.S. State Department officials told the New York Times, but the officials would not identify the countries that had made these offers. In addition, Arab nations apparently have not agreed to provide the combat troops that military analysts say will be necessary to truly degrade and destroy the extremist forces, known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Participation by Arab nations could soften perceptions that the conflict against The militants is solely a Western war in the Middle East.

Iraqi armed forces are not considered strong enough to defeat theIslamic State on their own. The U.S. government hopes to help train and equip them to defeat the militants eventually, and also intends to assist "moderate" Syrians in the fight against the extremists. In the meantime, the United States plans to rely on air power to limit their gains or roll them back. President Obama has ruled out the use of American combat troops.

White House officials also are urging Congress to vote this week to train and arm "moderate" Syrian rebels who oppose both the Islamic State and the Syrian government of dictator Bashar al-Assad. Obama wants $500 billion immediately for that effort, which is designed to prevent the extremists from continuing to have a safe haven in Syria.

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough told Fox News Sunday, "If it's not the Syrian opposition, trained and equipped by the United States, authorized by Congress and the president ... then it'll have to be U.S. troops. The president made a decision on that. We're not going to do that."

Congress appears likely to approve the funding.

But the American public is expressing doubts about Obama's policy, which he announced last week. The latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Annenberg poll finds that 62 percent of voters support the decision to take action against the Islamic State but 68 percent have "very little' or "just some" confidence that the plan will degrade and destroy the militants, which are the objectives that Obama has set for the plan

"The bottom line: The president has made his case to the American public, and like other presidents who faced war and peace issues, support usually follows," Democratic pollster Peter Hart, who helped conduct the poll, told NBC. "The difference in this military encounter is that, right out of the box, Americans are skeptical if this will work."

In another development, the beheading of British aid worker David Haines by ISIS provoked outrage in Great Britain during the weekend. This followed the recent beheading of two American journalists by ISIS.

Source: ow.ly/Bvqzy