At CIA meeting days after Obama called Libya the ‘worst mistake’ of his presidency, remarks underline growing anxiety of Isis foothold in the country
President Obama made his remarks at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, after meeting with his national security council. Photograph: Carolyn Kaster/AP
Dan Roberts in Washington
@RobertsDan
Thursday 14 April 2016 02.22 BST Last modified on Thursday 14 April 2016 10.37
Efforts to stem the flow of Islamic State recruits into Syria and Iraq have been met by an increase in foreign extremists heading to Libya instead, Barack Obama has warned.
Just days after describing the failure to prevent extremists filling a power vacuum in Libya as the “worst mistake” of his presidency, Obama’s remarks underline growing White House anxiety about the foothold gained by Isis in the country.
“As we, and our foreign allies and partners, have made it harder for foreign terrorists to reach Syria and Iraq, we have seen an uptick in the number of Isis fighters heading to Libya,” Obama told reporters at CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, after a meeting with intelligence chiefs intended to review US strategy against the terror group.
Barack Obama says Libya was ‘worst mistake’ of his presidency
General David Rodriguez, commander of US Africa command, revealed earlier this week that US intelligence estimates now suggest the number of Isis fighters in Libya has doubled in the past year to between 4,000 and 6,000.
“We are going to continue to use the full range of our tools to roll Isil back from Libya while insisting the new, nascent Libyan government works to secure their country,” insisted Obama on Wednesday, using an alternative name for Islamic State.
But the US president’s latest comments, following a meeting with more than two dozen top officials at Langley, also come amid growing criticism of foreign allies involved in helping topple Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
In an interview last month, Obama claimed Britain’s David Cameron had been distracted by domestic priorities as Libya descended into a “mess”, and criticized both the UK and France for encouraging military action but not following through with support afterwards.
“You’ve got Europe and a number of Gulf countries who despise Gaddafi, or are concerned on a humanitarian basis, who are calling for action,” Obama was quoted as saying in his interview with the Atlantic magazine.
“But what has been a habit over the last several decades in these circumstances is people pushing us to act but then showing an unwillingness to put any skin in the game … free riders.”
The issue is likely to be high up the agenda when Obama meets with Gulf leaders in Saudi Arabia and then Cameron in London at the end of next week.
On Wednesday Philip Hammond, the British foreign secretary, was accused of a lack of openness as he faced fresh calls to set out plans for new British troop deployments in Libya.
The call for a statement came as the newly installed Libyan government held back from an immediate request for the use of western ground troops to combat the growing threat of Islamic State in the north of the country and help stabilise the oil-rich country riven by five years of civil war.
A unity government has been installed in Tripoli under the leadership of Fayez al-Sarraj but it is still struggling to win over all factions, including the rival parliament in Tobruk.
It also recently emerged that UK special forces are already operating on the ground in Libya helping the government fight Isis.
In his remarks on Wednesday, Obama insisted the US and its allies would still defeat Isis and focused mainly on signs of progress in Syria and Iraq, where he said the group had lost 28,000 sq miles of territory after 11,500 allied air strikes that helped local partners push it back.
Isis under airstrikes – a guide in maps
Today, on the ground in Syria and in Iraq, Isil is on the defensive,” said Obama. “Our 66-member coalition, including Arab partners, is on the offensive. We have momentum, and we intend to keep that momentum.”
In language that echoed his earlier claims of victory against al-Qaida, he said the “core” of Isis was shrinking – even if terrorist atrocities continued around the world.
“The Isil core in Syria and Iraq continues to shrink, their ranks of fighters are estimated to be at the lowest levels in about two years, and more and more of them are realising that their cause is lost,” said Obama.
“As we’ve seen so tragically – from Brussels to Istanbul to Iraq, where Isil slaughtered children watching soccer – these depraved terrorists still have the ability to inflict horrific violence on the innocent, to the revulsion of the entire world,” he said.
“With attacks likes these Isil hopes to weaken our collective resolve. Once again they have failed. Their barbarism only stiffens our unity and determination to wipe this vile terrorist organization off the face of the Earth.”
Source:The Guardian