Obama Signals No Immediate Plans to Defeat Islamic State

Actually, it's worse than "no immediate plans."

Obama admitted today that he's got no strategy to defeat ISIS.

At Twitchy, "Strategy? What strategy? Behold ‘the Obama Doctrine in one sentence’."

And at the Wall Street Journal, "Obama Says No Plans for Imminent Escalation of Operations Against Islamic State: Extremists Killed Nearly 500 This Week in One Syrian Province, Opposition Activists Say":

President Barack Obama signaled the U.S. has no immediate plans to escalate military operations against Islamic State extremists in Iraq or Syria, stressing the need to counter the group's advance while formulating a broader strategy to protect U.S. interests and allies.

Mr. Obama spoke on a day when Syrian opposition activists said the Sunni radical group had killed nearly 500 people since Sunday in the northeastern province of Raqqa, most of them Syrian troops captured on an air base seized by Islamic State fighters.

The president, who met with his national security team Thursday afternoon, said the U.S. is still developing its plan to root Islamic State out of Iraq and Syria, where it has captured large swaths of territory since June.

"We don't have a strategy yet," Mr. Obama said of potential plans for airstrikes in Syria. He said the long-term blueprint to respond to the growth of the militant group, also known as ISIS or ISIL, can't depend on U.S. actions alone.

"Rooting out a cancer like ISIL will not be quick, or easy, but I'm confident that we can and we will, working closely with our allies and our partners," Mr. Obama said.

The president walked back reports suggesting an immediate escalation of military operations, including potential airstrikes in Syria.

"We need to make sure that we've got clear plans so we're developing them," he said. He said he was more focused on military activity in Iraq and the need for a unified government in Baghdad to help combat militant forces. "My priority at this point is to make sure that the gains that ISIL made in Iraq are rolled back and that Iraq has the opportunity to govern itself effectively and secure itself," Mr. Obama said...

More.