How the world responded to Obama's Islamic State speech
President Obama's plan to defeat the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has sparked global reactions on the legalities and consequences of American military power in the Middle East.
President Obama's plan to defeat the self-styled Islamic State in Iraq and Syria has sparked global reactions on the legalities and consequences of American military power in the Middle East.
From Tehran to Berlin, commentators are chewing over聽President Barack Obama鈥檚 speech last night on fighting the self-named Islamic State (IS). And while the prospect of expanded US intervention in the Middle East alarms some, he gets plaudits from others for his combative message.聽
Mr. Obama鈥檚 speech wasn鈥檛 top news in many outlets, and more reactions will likely follow. Here鈥檚 a sampling of responses, from countries that Obama hopes will join his 鈥渃oalition of partners鈥� to those with frostier ties.
In the Middle East, initial reaction was largely pessimistic, according to translations of local media reports provided by the BBC.
Syria bristled at the threat of US airstrikes in its territory, which Obama said he could do in pursuit of IS fighters. Syrian state TV said:
Iran's Fars News Agency didn鈥檛 publish a direct response to the speech, but its top story online聽critiqued Washington:
In Israel, a columnist for the left-leaning Haaretz newspaper gave Obama mixed reviews聽for his speech:聽
A commentary in Lebanon鈥檚 Al-Akhbar English, published the day of Obama鈥檚 speech, writes that 鈥渢he US war on ISIS is unlikely to succeed for many reasons.鈥� Among them:
In Europe, the response focused both on Obama鈥檚 delivery and on his relationship with the US Congress.聽Germany鈥檚 Duetsche Welle聽wrote:
Britain's聽The Guardian聽writes:
RT, Russia鈥檚 official news agency, ran a critical question and answer piece with anti-war activist Brian Becker. Among his responses:
In a commentary before the speech, Mexican daily newspaper, La Jornada,聽slammed what it calls "inconsistencies" in US policy toward the Middle East: