President Barack Obama has stepped up his bid to convince Americans he has a plan to defeat the IS, meeting top congressional leaders and scheduling a primetime speech for Wednesday.
Obama’s White House speech is considered his most significant effort to outline a strategy against a group whose savage methods have included the beheading of two American captives.
Obama met the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. House and Senate in the Oval Office to discuss the next phase of his campaign.
He met Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi, the top Democrats in the US Senate and House of Representatives, and Republican counterparts Mitch McConnell and John Boehner.
“The president told the leaders that he has the authority he needs to take action against IS in accordance with the mission he will lay out in his address tomorrow night,” the White House said in a statement, using an acronym for Islamic State.
The 1973 War Powers Resolution requires that the president consult Congress before introducing US armed forces into hostilities but allows them to remain for 60 days before he has to obtain Congress’s approval for action.
Source: AFP, Reuters