--- title: Obama, ISIS and 9/11 description: The President laid out a measured, prudent approach to handle the ISIS threat last night. A lot was unstated--as it should be--concerning the role of... canonical: https://time.com/3328141/obama-isis-and-911/ author: Joe Klein article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-09-11T16:53:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:00:43.136Z article:section: Politics og:title: What We’ve Learned About Fighting Terrorism Since 9/11 og:description: The President laid out a measured, prudent approach to handle the ISIS threat last night. A lot was unstated--as it should be--concerning the role of... og:url: https://time.com/3328141/obama-isis-and-911/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt393cb00169bdac72/6986a2e613c79f1f40193cf0/barack-obama-911.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5000 og:image:height: 2813 og:image:alt: President Barack Obama speaks at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, September 11, 2014, during a ceremony marking the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What We’ve Learned About Fighting Terrorism Since 9/11 twitter:description: The President laid out a measured, prudent approach to handle the ISIS threat last night. A lot was unstated--as it should be--concerning the role of... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt393cb00169bdac72/6986a2e613c79f1f40193cf0/barack-obama-911.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama, ISIS and 9/11 > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. Senior correspondent Philip Elliott brings sharp context to the issues driving the capital, connecting the decisions made in Washington to the institutions, industries and people they affect. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS [Watch (HLS stream): Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xvTQSd5R.m3u8) (2:58)  _Published 2014-09-05. A growing number of foreigners is joining the Islamic militant group - but why?_ by [Joe Klein](https://time.com/author/joe-klein/) ## Joe Klein Sep 11, 2014 4:53 PM UTC  President Barack Obama speaks at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, September 11, 2014, during a ceremony marking the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. President Barack Obama speaks at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, September 11, 2014, during a ceremony marking the 13th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Jim Watson—AFP/Getty Images by [Joe Klein](https://time.com/author/joe-klein/) ## Joe Klein Sep 11, 2014 4:53 PM UTC The President laid out a measured, prudent approach to handle the ISIS threat last night. A lot was unstated–as it should be–concerning the role of US special ops on the ground and surreptitious alliances with countries like Iran, whose interests now coincide with our own in the region. The McCainiac Republican reaction–more! bigger! now!–is so far beyond foolish that it needn’t be taken seriously. If John McCain had been elected President–and actually governed the way he runs his mouth–we’d have troops stuck in perpetuity in Iraq and Afghanistan, Syria, Libya and quite possibly Iran, not to mention Ukraine and Georgia (if we were lucky enough to avoid a nuclear exchange with Russia). McCain, in his tussle with Jay Carney on CNN last night, said we’d had troops in Korea and Bosnia for many years and nothing awful had happened–true enough–but neither Bosnia nor Korea (nor Germany, or Japan, he might have added) have the history of rampaging western imperialism that the Middle East does. And that history of imperialism represents the greatest obstacle to success for Obama’s plan. George W Bush’s foolish invasion of Iraq, plus the increasing power of communication among jihadists, unleashed the possibility that the straight line borders and imaginary countries drawn by Europeans in the Middle East 98 years ago might erode (as the border between Syria and Iraq has now vanished). This is the most critical problem with the President’s plan: It assumes that Iraq is a country, that it will be able to organize a plausible, multi-sectarian government and Army–his proposed “boots on the ground” in the war against ISIS. It also assumes that Syria, in its current borders, is a country. But it’s equally possible that Syria splits apart into Sunni and Shia (plus Druse and Maronite) zones, perhaps compromising the future existence of Lebanon and Jordan. And that the Kurds split off from Iraq. And maybe even that the Shi’ites in Saudi Arabia’s eastern province make common cause with their Arab Shi’ite brothers across the “border” in southern Iraq. Or, worst of all, that we’re on the cusp of a regional Sunni-Shia conflagration–which our actions might help precipitate. The possibilities are myriad, and defy anything we now assume. It is a safe bet that this area will have fractures and bloody amputations, stuggles over new borders and perhaps new countries for the rest of this century. The forces pushing toward a tribal and sectarian rationalizing of borders are far too primal for the U.S and the West to control completely. Does that mean we shouldn’t try? No. We should try–humbly–and with low expectations. We should certainly try to take out as many of ISIS’s assets as possible and proceed–as the President suggested we should–in the same targeted manner we have in Somalia and Yemen. Keeping the terrorists on the defensive is very much in our national interest. There is constant talk of hard and soft power, but in the 13 years since 9/11, we have learned of a third source: viral power. Terrorism is a constantly metastasizing virus. It can be suppressed but it is too mutable to be swept away. It is difficult to fight with conventional means, under the traditional rules of war. What the President was trying to communicate last night was that this struggle is not going to end with a signing ceremony on the deck of a battleship. As John Kerry said in 2004, it will continue as a low-grade fever for many years, quite possibly for the rest of our children’s lives. It is a chronic condition that will have to be managed, until the real nations in that benighted region are sorted out, built, governed and controlled–not by us, but by the people who live there. Our job between now and then is to be realistic, defend our national security interests and to help, diplomatically and economically, to build a stable peace, if such a thing is possible. ## Transcript The Islamic state of Iraq and greater Syria is quickly making a name for itself as one of the most ruthless militias in the Middle East. But the extremist group is also making headlines for its successful recruitment of Western volunteers. Hundreds of fighters from at least 50 different countries and known to have travelled to Syria and Iraq to wage war under the ISIS flag. Here's a close look at how the group is recruiting them. And [ UNKNOWN ] says that what gives you life is Jihad. I know by a law that this the land of Jihad. We have brothers from Bangladesh, from Iraq, from Cambodia, Australia, UK. Nothing has has [ INAUDIBLE ] In one video posted on YouTube, new recruits are enticed to respond to the call of jihad by a fighter who's filmed walking down stairs. Of a four star hotel in the town of Kasab in northwestern Syria. [ FOREIGN ] The fighter tells recruits they can sleep there for free. ISIS also tweeted, during the World Cup, with the hashtag WorldCup2014. In an attempt to steer soccer fans to the group's sleekly produced propaganda. ISIS initially portrayed itself as being part of a humanitarian effort to back fellow Sunni Muslims in the Syrian civil war. That promise of a fight to protect Muslim brothers and sisters, is a powerful draw for some Western recruits. But in reality, ISIS has been targeting Sunnis as well as Shia Muslims, and other religious minorities in its campaign to control territory. [ MUSIC ] Isis also accomplished something Al- queda has never been able to achieve. It has declared self styled Islamic palafite in an area that spans parts of Iraq and Syria. And it's apparent ability to create some sort of stability in a war zone has proved attracted to some western Muslims. ISIS makes a particular effort to be welcoming to foreigners. ISIS normally accepts any Muslim into its ranks whereas some other Islamist groups in Syria ask for fighters to align with their specific ideology. For these young, restless foreigners. Isis can appear to offer a sense of mission. The challenge for the West, to persuade vulnerable young Muslims that all Isis really offers is the distortion of Islam and not a perfect Islamic state. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3328141/obama-isis-and-911/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3328141/obama-isis-and-911/"},"headline":"Obama, ISIS and 9/11","datePublished":"2014-09-11T16:53:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:00:43.136Z","description":"The President laid out a measured, prudent approach to handle the ISIS threat last night. 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