three terrorist attacks in the last ten days with the russian airliner, beirut, and now paris. that is not a contained organization. well, chuck, the president was referring very specifically to the question of isil s geographic expansion in iraq and syria. they had been on the march in both iraq and syria for some time but starting a year ago we were able to halt that expansion and we ve actually been able to push back and reclaim territory from isil in both iraq and syria including most recently in an operation with our kurdish allies on the ground in iraq where they were able to take the strategic town of sinjar cutting off a key supply line between the capital for isil and syria and mosul which has been a principal base of operations in iraq. we have been able to apply pressure and take back territory, but at the same time, of course, we are seeing isil aim to project power beyond the boards of iraq and syria, most tragically in the attacks in
attackers entered europe through greece and was registered as a refugee in serbia. not yet clear if he was a syrian. now, a number of arrests have been made in the belgium capital of brussels leading the french to say this is a terror network. president obama, who is at a meeting of the g-20 in turkey this morning called the paris atrocities an attack on the civilized world. we will redouble our efforts working with other members of the coalition to bring about a peaceful transition in syria and to eliminate d.a.s.h. as a force that can create so much pain and suffering. d.a.s.h. another name for isis and isil that you hear from many officials. what is obvious now is the war with isis has entered a new phase. october 31st, what appears to be a bomb takes down a russian passenger plane in egypt killing 224 people on board. isis claims responsibility as
women and orphans. we need to sort out how to focus on the terrorists we need to keep out of the country but i think we do need to do our part to take those refugees who are in need. are you prepared for france to invoke article 5 of the nato charter? an attack on one is an attack on all. that s a decision for the french to make. what we have made clear to the french is we will be shoulder to shoulder in this response. they are in our military campaign in iraq and syria. clearly they want to energize their efforts. there s a french two-star general at centcom who will help that going forward. we will be able to intensify our strikes against isil in syria and iraq to make clear there s no safe hecaven. ben rhodes, traveling with the president in turkey. mr. rhodes, thank you for coming on meet the press. thanks, chuck. and we now have video that appears to show the beginning of the attack at what was an eagles of death metal concert in that
what was the first thing you did when you came home and your boys were there. well, i just hugged my boyfriend and jen i went to see them and cleaned myself. you were covered in i was completely covered. that was teresa sharing her powerful firsthand account of her attacks in the theater. our thanks to her. she essentially had to play do he had to survive. we ll have much more on this special edition of meet the press. up next, do we need a new strategy to defeat isis, and if so, what is it? strategy to beat isis? and if so, what is it? (vo) you can check on them. you can worry about them. you can even choose a car for them.
attorney general, and revealed that the french authorities know who the bombers were and are working in cooperation with belgium, spain, and germany. i then asked her if france will escalate its war against isis in syria. here is her answer. it s an act of war, and it is a war, and it is a war against civilian people. it is a war against our shared values. it is a war against what we are, and what i observe is that they will give orders to young people to kill people and to go to deaths themselves. earlier this week president obama said isis had been contained. a phrase he s probably regretting right now. and even that was a retreat from an earlier declaration and position when he said the u.s. aim was to degrade and destroy isis. joining me to talk about the u.s. response to the attacks and the strategy going forward is ben rhodes, deputy national security adviser for the president and he s traveling with him in turkey.