the war in syria and unite the syrian people and the world against isil. the vienna talks marked the first time that all the key countries have come together. as a result, i would add of american leadership, and reach a common understanding. with this weekend s talks, there pea a path forward. negotiations between the syrian opposition and the syrian regime under the auspices of united nations, a transition toward a more inclusive representative government, a new constitution, followed by free elections, and alongside this political process, a cease-fire in the civil war even as we continue to fight against isil. these are obviously ambitious goals. hopes for diplomacy in syria have been dashed before. there are any number of ways that this latest diplomatic push could falter, and there are still disagreements between the parties, including most critically over the fate of
last 36 hours. i just want to put these numbers on the screen. we know the president s approval rating has been stuck in the mid to high 40s for a long time now. this is before the attacks, 33% of obama s handling of foreign policy. how about his handling of isis in syria and in iraq? just 31%. and when you have his deputy national security adviser coming out and saying we don t believe there s an imminent threat but you have guys like bratton brennan coming out, it s going to shift that whole conversation, internally in washington and on the international stage as he continues the trip that once he leaves turkey and the g-20, he s
overnight carried out by french police. i can t remember the last time we saw 168 raids in one 24-hour period. 23 people arrested. 104 others being questioned. we re told that they were targeted on known jihadists or supporters of isis. 31 guns were seized. and a rocket propelled grenade launcher. so quite significant there. police have also named the person that they believe is the mastermind behind the paris massacres. a man called abdel hamid abboud, he is belgium. he lived in a brussels suburb which is being linked to so many of these jihadis. it is believed he went to syria last year and it is thought he was one of isis chief executioners. there is a clear line being drawn between the people who caused mayhem on the streets here in paris and syria. most people making a clear link
effective partner on the ground, isil can, and is, pushed back. local forces in iraq backed by coalition air power recently liberated sinjar. in syria isil s been pushed back from much of the border region with turkey. we ve stepped up our support of opposition forces who are working to cut off supply lines to isil strongholds in and around raqqa. so in short, both in iraq and syria be with isil controls less territory than it did before. i made the point to my fellow leaders that if we want this progress to be sustained, more nations need to step up with the resources that this fight demands. of course, the attacks in paris remind us that it will not be enough to defeat isil in syria and iraq alone. our nations are therefore committed to strengthening border controls, sharing more information and stepping up our
thank you, mr. president. a more than year-long bombing campaign in iraq and in syria has failed to contain the ambition and the ability of isis to launch attacks in the west. have you underestimated their abilities and will you widen the rules of engagement for u.s. forces to take more aggressive action? no, we haven t underestimated our abilities. this is precisely why we re in iraq as we speak and we we re operating in syria as we speak. and it s precisely why we have mobilized 65 countries to go after isil and why i hosted at the united nations an entire discussion of counterterrorism strategies and why we ve been putting pressure on those countries that have not been as