Wanted to share this article with you, including a video and few photos from President Obama's visit today. This will give a clear picture of our way ahead in the fight against ISIL.
In Tampa, Obama rules out ground troops vs. ISIS: 'We're not going to do this alone' | Tampa Bay Times
TAMPA — President Barack Obama addressed about 1,200 service men and women at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa on Wednesday, thanking them for their service in the ongoing fight against terrorism and assuring them that America will not go at it alone as it seeks to "degrade and ultimately destroy" ISIS.
He also reaffirmed his decision not to commit ground troops to the fight.
"In an uncertain world full of breathtaking change, the one constant is American leadership," Obama said. But he emphasized that this is not America's fight alone and "I will not commit you to fighting another ground war in Iraq."
He said the United States has spent the past several weeks building a coalition of more than 40 countries offering assistance in the campaign against the Islamic State group.
"We're not going to do this alone," he said.
Obama praised the service men and women, and their families, for their efforts over wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said only 1 percent of Americans "wear the uniform," but 100 percent need to support the troops.
"If there is some sort of crisis ... when the world is threatened, when the world needs help, it calls on America," he said. "Even the countries that complain about America, when they need help, who do they call? They call us, and then America calls on you."
Air Force One departed for Washington at about 1:40 p.m.
The president started his morning at MacDill by receiving a briefing from Army Gen. Lloyd Austin II, CentCom's commander, who returned from the region for the visit, and his top commanders at CentCom who have been implementing the campaign against ISIL. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is there, too, along with National Security Advisor Susan Rice and Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism.
The president also met with representatives from the nations under Central Command's scope of responsibility. Many of them are expected to participate in the international coalition the administration is assembling.
MacDill houses U.S. Central Command, which is responsible for the security of 20 countries in the Middle East and Central and South Asia, including Iraq and Syria. After his televised speech last week authorizing expanded military operations in the Middle East,
including airstrikes in Syria and the deployment of 475 military advisers in Iraq, the president asked aides to arrange a visit to CentCom, said Deputy Press Secretary Shawn Turner.
"What he wanted to do was go down and talk to the men and women that he knows are going to be at the forefront" of implementing and executing the military strategy against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, Turner said.
After the speech, the president visited Tinker Elementary on the base and talked with school children, handing out White House M&M's with his signature on them.
One of kids asked if Obama fought in the Civil War.
"No, I was born in 1961," he said.
Soon after arriving in Tampa on Tuesday night, Obama stopped by a military spouse appreciation reception at MacDill's Harbor Bay community center.
"MacDill and CentCom have been key players in our national security for quite some time and one of the things the president recognized is that does not happen without the support of a great community," Turner said.
This was Obama's 35th visit to Florida since he was first elected, according to Mark Knoller, a White House reporter for CBS News who maintains a detailed list of the president's travel. Obama has not visited the Tampa Bay area since his re-election in 2012.
It's likely the president will be back in Florida to campaign for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Charlie Crist before November, but this trip is said to be strictly about national security. The president made no plans to meet with Crist, who spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention.
In Tampa, Obama rules out ground troops vs. ISIS: 'We're not going to do this alone' | Tampa Bay Times
Haroon Ahmad
DET - U.S. Central Command
United States Central Command - Urdu - MacDill Air Force Base, FL - Government Organization | Facebook
