US President Barack Obama urged NATO to intervene in Islamic State's conquests of Iraq and Syria Friday, ending a two-day conference with the international body stating that it has "a critical role to play in rolling back this savage organization [IS] that is causing chaos in the region."
"There is unanimity that (IS) poses a significant threat to NATO members," he said. "The goal has to be to dismantle it. "
"We haven't seen as effective a force on the part of Iraqi fighting forces as we need," he added.
Obama's remarks follow days of ridicule directed at the US president, after he stated last week that the US has "no plan" regarding IS in Syria - despite authorizing decisive action in the region - and that "what I've seen in some of the news reports suggests that folks are getting a little further ahead of where we are at than we currently are."
The delay in taking that action, he claimed Friday, is simply in the act of being cautious.
"We have been very systematic and methodical in going after these sorts of organizations," Obama insisted, in a press conference shortly before leaving Wales.
"That deliberation allows us to do it right. But have no doubt we will continue and I will continue to do what is necessary to protect the American people.”
Obama's statements surface after much political waffling over whether or not IS is an actual threat. Days later, he greenlit plans to allow limited reconnaissance flights over war-torn Syria to assess the situation, but without asking President Bashar Assad formally for permission to intervene.
Obama's pledge to fight IS in Syria follows a campaign of air raids to help regional Kurdish and Iraqi forces fighting IS in the northern Iraq.
The international community is scrambling to do more, however, after the group broadcast a video Tuesday showing the brutal decapitation of American journalist Steve Sotloff, and vowed continued beheadings until the US stopped its airstrikes.
The tape, entitled "A Second Message to America," not only vows death on another journalist - British civilian David Haines - but also threatens the US over its action against the terrorists.
As of Friday, the US has reportedly agreed to coordinate its military activities with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to combat the terrorist threat, after US-coordinated airstrikes with the Iraqis killed 18 top IS commanders Thursday night.