President Obama channeled his predecessor during a speech at the United Nations’ General Assembly on Wednesday, declaring there can be no reasoning with the ultra-violent terrorists of the Islamic State and that the only language the jihadists understand is “the language of force.”
The president’s speech before the gathered delegates touched on a variety of issues, expressing a perceived need to act on climate change and issuing a half-hearted denunciation of Russian aggression in eastern Europe.
But Obama’s tone turned uncharacteristically sharp when he came to the Islamic State, which the White House refers to as “ISIL.” He offered no apologies for the U.S. strategy to “degrade, and ultimately destroy” the Islamists through American air power and allied troops on the ground, listing off the group’s heinous crimes against innocent civilians.
“No god condones this terror,” he said. “No grievance justifies these actions. There can be no reasoning, no negotiating with this brand of evil. The only language understood by killers like this is the language of force.”
Obama’s rhetoric recalls the language used by former president George W. Bush, who consistently described Islamic terrorism as a uncontrollable force — he once called it “Islamic fascism” – and claimed it could not be explained away, reasoned with, or accommodated.
“These demands are not open to negotiation or discussion,” he said addressing the Taliban in a speech one week after 9/11. “They will hand over the terrorists, or they will share in their fate.”
In the same speech, Bush also said that despite increased security efforts, ”the only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it, and destroy it where it grows.”
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