Whether he likes it or not, President Barack Obama’s speech Wednesday night on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant threat is going to be known as his “Hey, we have a strategy now” speech.
And that makes the president’s margin for error – particularly given the expectations of a prime time White House address – perilously small.
He will have to give his audience a pretty good idea of how far he wants to go into Syria, the biggest way he could broaden the fight against the newest and most urgent terrorist threat. He will have to make a convincing case that Congress will have the “buy-in” he promised — for those lawmakers who want it — since all signs are that the administration won’t ask for authority to expand its airstrikes.
Author
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Shawn Brimley
Former Executive Vice President and Director of Studies
Shawn Brimley was the Executive Vice President and Director of Studies at the Center for a New American Security (CNAS), where he managed the center’s research agenda and staf...
