President Barack Obama vowed not to “relent” against ISIS, saying Sunday that the world will not accept attacks on civilians in places like Paris as the “new normal.”
While Obama said its “understandable” such attacks can arouse fear, he stressed that the “viciousness of a handful of killers” who have “good social media” won’t stop the world from doing business.
“We do not succumb to fear,” he told a press conference in Malaysia to close out his Asia trip. “They cannot strike a mortal blow against the United States or against France.”
He said the international coalition against ISIS “will not relent” and that “we will not accept” the idea of terror attacks on restaurants, theaters and hotels as “the new normal.”
When it comes to defeating ISIS, Obama said, “we’re going to get it done.”
“The most powerful tool that we have to fight ISIL is to say that we’re not afraid,” Obama said, using another name for ISIS. “They’re a bunch of killers with good social media.”
French President Francois Hollande is scheduled to meet with Obama in Washington on Tuesday to discuss the international fight against ISIS. Hollande will then travel to Russia to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Obama said Sunday it would be “helpful” if Russia redirected its focus in Syria onto ISIS, noting that the militant group has been blamed for downing a Russian passenger plane last month in the Sinai peninsula. “He needs to go after the people who killed Russia’s citizens,” Obama said of Putin, urging Russia to make a “strategic adjustment” and drop support for Syrian President Bashar al Assad. This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com
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