BUENOS AIRES, Argentina\u00a0\u2014 A day after bombs ripped through Brussels, President Obama\u00a0declared that fighting the Islamic State group is his “No. 1 priority” and pledged that the United States will pursue the group until it is destroyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I’ve got a lot of things on my plate, but my top priority is to defeat ISIL and to eliminate the scourge of this barbaric terrorism that’s been taking place around the world,”\u00a0Obama\u00a0said Wednesday, using an alternative acronym for the Islamic State group, also known as ISIS. “There’s no more important item on my agenda than going after them and defeating them. The issue is, how do we do it in an intelligent way?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Obama\u00a0addressed Tuesday’s deadly attacks in the European Union capital during a news conference in Buenos Aires, where he is meeting with the country’s new president, Mauricio Macri.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obama\u00a0said both the U.S. and Argentina understand the sorrow felt by the Belgians “because our countries have felt the scourge of terrorism.” He called on the world to unite behind fighting what he called “senseless and vicious” acts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But\u00a0Obama\u00a0offered few signs that he planned to retool his strategy in light of the Brussels bombing. The president said his approach to fighting the group has constantly “evolved” to meet the threat and he vowed to remain steady and “resolute.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The dual attack at a subway station and the airport killed at least 34 people, including three suicide bombers, and injured 270 others, authorities said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obama\u00a0criticized Republican presidential candidates who have suggested they would “carpet bomb” ISIS. He dismissed that approach as both “inhumane” and counterproductive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“That would likely be an extraordinary mechanism for ISIL to recruit more,” he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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