President Obama has refused to commit American soldiers to the fight against the brutal Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS), saying "we don't have a strategy" to defeat the terrorists.
Network newscasts have praised the president's statements against ISIL, labeling them "tough." They also praised the expediency of his "fighting words." Newsbusters reports:
After President Obama admitted on Thursday that he had "no strategy" for dealing with the ISIS terrorist network, on Wednesday, the network morning shows rushed to portray the aimless commander-in-chief as a tough-talking leader ready to "destroy" the radical killers.
At the top of ABC's Good Morning America, co-host George Stephanopoulos hyped: "President Obama's tough words to the ISIS terrorists who executed American journalist Steven Sotloff." In the report that followed, correspondent Brian Ross proclaimed: "President Obama vowed that ISIS will pay the price for the murder of a second American journalist. The president delivered fighting words this morning..."
Talking to White House correspondent Jonathan Karl moments later, Stephanopoulos declared: "In those remarks, the President laid also out a bold goal. He said the bottom line is the U.S. goal is to degrade and destroy ISIS as a threat."
ISIL has yet to surrender in the face of the president's strongly worded statements. If network news coverage of the situation is indicative of the way things are going, that may be just around the corner.
"President Obama vows 'justice will be served' in the wake of the brutal murder of yet another American by ISIS militants," Natalie Morales said on the Today Show.