White House Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes on ABC This Week, trying to tidy up the latest confusion about the very-much-not-contained ISIS strategy --
RHODES: Well, we'll have to be nimble, George. And that means looking at ISIL's efforts to expand. It should be noted that we took that strike against the leader of ISIL in Libya precisely because we were concerned about their efforts to set up a stronghold in Libya similar to what they've been able to do in Iraq and Syria. So we are going to be vigilant. And we're going to have a basic principle here that there cannot be a safe haven for a terrorist organization like ISIL that terrorizes the population around it and that seeks to project power and conduct attacks in the capitals of close friends and allies like France.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, operating out of the Sinai peninsula, meets that criterion. Does that mean that the US is now all-in with Egyptian President al-Sisi in the military crackdown in Sinai?
RHODES: Well, we'll have to be nimble, George. And that means looking at ISIL's efforts to expand. It should be noted that we took that strike against the leader of ISIL in Libya precisely because we were concerned about their efforts to set up a stronghold in Libya similar to what they've been able to do in Iraq and Syria. So we are going to be vigilant. And we're going to have a basic principle here that there cannot be a safe haven for a terrorist organization like ISIL that terrorizes the population around it and that seeks to project power and conduct attacks in the capitals of close friends and allies like France.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis, operating out of the Sinai peninsula, meets that criterion. Does that mean that the US is now all-in with Egyptian President al-Sisi in the military crackdown in Sinai?
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