US Wants Muslim Nations To Give More Economic Opportunities To Youths

United States President Obama admitted that military efforts would not be enough to solve the problem of the Islamic State group (ISIS). He said that there should be a campaign against the “twisted thinking” of the terrorist organization as well. Obama also said that ISIS ideologies could not be defeated by guns but by better ideas.

The president acknowledged that lone wolf attacks pose a grave challenge to the national security. "It's harder to make a large-scale attack, but the threat of lone wolves or small cells is complex, harder to detect and harder to prevent," NBC News quoted Obama. "It's one of the most difficult challenges we face."

Obama added that the United States had been working harder on countering online recruitment operation by ISIS forces. He said that he was going to appeal to nations with bigger Muslim populations to provide more economic opportunities for its youth. The younger generation of those countries is exploited by terror groups like ISIS for radical purposes.

The battle against ISIS will be a “generational struggle,” said Obama. According to the Obama administration, U.S. opposition has managed to push back ISIS in a number of major locations in Iraq, such as in Tikrit, Kirkuk and Mosul Dam. Obama said that ISIS could be pushed back when the United States had “effective partners.”

U.S. forces had been using fighter jets, drones and bombers against ISIS in Iraq since August 2014. It has also been conducting airstrikes in Syria since September 2014. Press TV reported that neither Syria nor the United Nations had authorized U.S. airstrikes in the beleaguered country. Washington sent more troops to Iraq that would train Iraqi forces against ISIS terrorists.

President Obama, on the other hand, said that ISIS had made it more difficult for the United States to protect its homeland. While al Qaeda depends more on organized operations, ISIS uses its online network to recruit supporters, including both individuals and groups. Obama said that the ISIS’ procedure of online operation was more difficult to detect.