In Shift, White House Calls ISIS Fight A ‘War’

 By Devin Dwyer  Sep 12, 2014        

 

(Credit: Evan Vucci/AP Photo)

One day after denying the U.S. is engaged in “a war” against ISIS militants, the White House today said  a war is in fact underway, indicating it’s an extension of the ongoing campaign against Islamic extremists.
“The United States is at war with ISIL in the same way we are at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters today.
“Semantics matter,” he added.
At the Pentagon, spokesman Rear Adm. John Kirby echoed that assessment:  “This is not the Iraq War,” he said. “But make no mistake we know we are at war with ISIL in the same way we are at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates.” The militant Islamic group goes by the acronym ISIL as well as ISIS and the name of Islamic State.
The new talking points follow a day of insistence by administration officials that President Obama’s new anti-ISIS strategy only amounts to a  “counter-terrorism campaign.”
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