Obama vows to defeat IS, but rules out sending ground troops

U.S. President Barack Obama has officially called the mass shootings in San Bernardino, California an "act of terrorism" and vowed the U.S. will track the Islamic State group to the end and destroy it.

In his address to the nation from the Oval Office on Sunday, President Obama said, "The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us." It is the first time in 14 years since the national address in the Oval Office by former President George W. Bush immediately after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001.

Obama says he will further strengthen the four strategical steps - hunt down terrorist plotters in any country where necessary; provide training and equipment to tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL; work with friends and allies to stop ISIL`s operations; pursue cease-fires and a political resolution to the Syrian war.

On dispatching ground forces in Iraq, he reiterated his stance of opposition by saying the U.S. can`t be dragged again to a land war that pays dear. The U.S. political sector and the public increasingly are calling for the need to dispatch ground forces to beat off the Islamic State, raising disputes on the effectiveness of anti-terrorist strategies set up by President Obama.

ddr@donga.com