Intensified anti-Daesh campaign?

US President Barack Obama told reporters after a briefing at the Pentagon with top military brass and members of his national security team earlier this month that he aims to “intensify” anti-Daesh military efforts in Syria and Iraq. 

“We’re intensifying our efforts against ISIL’s [Daesh] base in Syria,” he told the press. “We’re going after the ISIL leadership and infrastructure in Syria, the heart of ISIL that pumps funds and propaganda to the people of the world,” he added. Obama then cautioned that “this will not be quick. This is a long-term campaign.” The US president even described Daesh as “opportunistic” and “nimble.”

Of course the campaign against Daesh has been going on for many months. Nearly 5,000 air strikes had been carried out at a cost of about $2.91 billion till June 18 of this year. It has been over a year since Daesh overran much of Iraq and Syria and took control of swathes of their territories. 

The question that remains is whether these assurances should be taken with grain of salt, especially at a time when Obama has a track record of saying or promising things that he did not honour or failed to deliver on them. 

Obama issued the infamous “red line” warning to Damascus on August 20, 2012 for deploying chemical weapons against its own people but failed to honour that warning in favour of a Russian brokered plan that ostensibly would rid Syria of chemical weapons. This will continue to haunt him beyond his term of office and also erode his credibility as commander-in-chief to deliver on what he commits himself to do. 

At the time, former US defence secretary Leon Panetta warned that Obama’s failure to deliver on the stern warning to Damascus — notwithstanding the endorsement of Moscow’s proposal to rid Syria of chemical weapons — eroded the credibility of not only the president but also the entire country. 

Against this backdrop, it would be hard to take Obama too seriously about what he intends to do against Daesh. His half-hearted measures, including the reluctant deployment of US personnel in Iraq to aid the beleaguered Iraqi army, cannot be relied on as solid proof that Washington is determined to take on Daesh with all its might.

Obama’s failure to deliver on the Palestinian conflict is also evidence that he has a wavering leadership character. It appears that the enemies of the US have sensed that indecisiveness and are therefore exploiting his peaceful traits to their advantage, including of course Daesh, Israel and Russia no doubt.