Obama: ‘The Only Way to Truly Destroy ISIL Is to End the Syrian Civil War’

"As I’ve said repeatedly, the only way to truly destroy ISIL is to end the Syrian civil war that ISIL has exploited.  So we continue to work for a diplomatic end to this awful conflict.  The cessation of hostilities in the Syrian civil war has largely held for about six weeks.  It has reduced the violence, although not eliminated it, but that reduction is meaningful and it’s allowed some humanitarian aid to reach the Syrian people.  So the cessation has saved lives.  But as we’re seeing around Aleppo and other areas, the cessation is tenuous and under strain.  We’ve seen repeated violations by the Assad regime, continued attacks by al Qaeda’s al-Nusra affiliate, and many Syrians continue to be deprived of desperately needed food, water and medicine."