US Declares “War” On IS

The White House declared Friday, September 12, the United States was at war with Islamic State (IS) radicals, reports AFP, quoted by the BTA wire service.

In a series of television interviews Secretary of State John Kerry had appeared to be reluctant to term the expansion of US operations against IS „war."

"The United States is at war with IS in the same way that we are at war with Al-Qaida and its Al-Qaida affiliates all around the globe," said White House spokesman Josh Earnest.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said that the US was not fighting the last Iraq war and used similar language to Earnest. 

"But make no mistake, we know we are at war with IS in the same way we're at war and continue to be at war with Al-Qaida and its affiliates," he said. 

In interviews on Thursday, as Kerry toured the Middle East building an anti-IS coalition, he was reluctant to use the term "war" in referring to the US campaign, telling people not to indulge in "war fever."

"We're engaged in a major counterterrorism operation, and it's going to be a long-term counterterrorism operation," Kerry told CBS News. 

"I think 'war' is the wrong terminology and analogy but the fact is that we are engaged in a very significant global effort to curb terrorist activity," Kerry said.

Since last month the US Air Force carried out more than 150 air strikes against IS positions in Iraq. 

Meanwhile, however, the Syrian government and its close allies in Moscow and Tehran warned US President Barack Obama that an offensive against Islamic State within Syria would violate international law yesterday, hours after the US president announced that he was authorising an open-ended campaign of air strikes against...