WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The Islamic State, also known as Daesh is losing the battle for hearts and minds in Iraq, and faces a flow of defectors that it is trying to end by a wave of executions, President Barack Obama said in a statement from the White House.
“They are not winning over hearts and minds,” Obama stated in his address on Thursday evening. “We continue to hear reports of defections and executions of those who try to defect… The flow of foreign terrorist fighters into Syria finally appears to be slowing.”
“More and more people are realizing ISIL [Daesh] is not a caliphate — It's a crime ring,” Obama noted in his statement.
"The road ahead will not be easy but our coalition continues to grow stronger, the ISIL core in Syria and Iraq continues to shrink, with allies and partners…we will destroy this barbaric terrorist organization," Obama said after a meeting with the National Security Council (NSC) at the US State Department.
The US president pointed out, however, that disagreements remain among the parties that are fighting against Daesh.
"Countries, communities and groups that agreed on fighting ISIL in the short-term often don’t agree on boarder long-term goals," Obama said, stressing nonetheless that "there will be absolutely no ceasefire" in the fight against Daesh.
According to Obama, Daesh has not had a single successful major offensive operation in Syria or Iraq since last summer.
US President Barack Obama has stressed that the fight against Daesh must not only include air operations in Iraq in Syria but should also focus on countering radical online propaganda.
"Here at the State Department our new global engagement center will do more to lift up voices that expose ISIL…and my administration is working with high-tech leaders in Silicon Valley, including Facebook, Youtube and Twitter, to help counter ISIL online," Obama said on Thursday.
