Obama bids to sell plan to defeat Islamic State

President Barack Obama is intensifying his bid to sell his yet-to-be revealed plan to destroy the Islamic State, scheduling a national address and calling congressional leaders to the Oval Office.

Obama will summon the symbolic weight of a prime time speech at 9.00 pm on Wednesday (0100 GMT Thursday), speaking from the ceremonial state floor of the White House, officials said Tuesday.

The speech will attempt to redress criticism that he has been slow to respond to the militant group's seizure of a haven in Syria and Iraq, amid fears fighters armed with Western passports could train their sights on the US homeland.

Obama will enlist public support for a new military venture abroad at a poignant moment - the eve of the 13th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, which pitched America into a Middle East conflagration he has spent much of his presidency trying to escape.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Obama would use his speech to "discuss with the American people the threat posed by (IS) and to lay out the United States' strategy for degrading and ultimately destroying the terrorist group."

Expectations that the president will expand US strikes in Iraq into Syria coincide with signs that the American public sees the group as an increasing threat, and is increasingly open to stepped up military action.

Obama was due to meet senior congressional leaders in the Oval Office at 3.15 pm (1915 GMT) to discuss his plans, which officials say will involve a broad international coalition and efforts to choke off IS funding and the flow of foreign fighters to the group as well as military action.

The White House has been unwilling to say exactly what it wants from Congress, saying it wants "buy in" from lawmakers but stopping short of signalling the president will ask for authorization to take military action.

Obama has warned however that he will likely ask for more money to finance the campaign, which senior officials say could outlast his presidency, which ends in January 2017.

Before the talks, Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell said that Obama needed to offer a clear outline of his plan, after he was pilloried less than two weeks ago for admitting he did not yet have a strategy to take on IS in Syria.

"Now that the President has conducted initial consultations with our allies, and stated his objective to degrade and destroy ISIL, it's time to present a strategy to Congress," McConnell said.

"I hope he will begin to do that today."

The Obama administration rejects claims by Republican critics and a rising number of Democrats that it has been sluggish recognising and confronting the threat from IS, which has beheaded two US journalists.

Progress 

Obama has been demanding the formation of a unified government in Iraq for weeks, reasoning that the sudden march of IS across the country was eased by a sectarian meltdown triggered by ex-prime minister Nuri al-Maliki.

US officials therefore welcomed the formation on Monday of a new government in Baghdad under new Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi as an important sign of progress.

Secretary of State John Kerry meanwhile arrives in the Middle East on Wednesday to accelerate Washington's efforts to build an international coalition to confront IS.

But many of Obama's intentions remain opaque, with the key question being if and when he will authorise military action to chase down IS leaders in Syria, to compliment several weeks of US military strikes on the group in Iraq.

Obama, who has built his presidency on disengaging from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and on avoiding "stupid" new misadventures overseas, has long been loath to intervene in Syria's civil war.

US public fears IS 

But public opinion in the United States appears to be shifting in favour of a limited intervention in Syria, despite lingering fatigue from more than a decade of foreign wars.

A Washington Post/ABC News poll published Tuesday found that nine in 10 Americans saw Islamic State as a serious threat, and 71 percent backed air strikes in Iraq and percent agreed with extending air strikes into Syria.

There was also sobering data for Obama's political advisors.

Fifty three percent said the president had been too cautious in handling international affairs.

The findings mirrored those of a CNN poll released Monday which revealed that 71 percent believed IS had "terrorists" already in the United States, despite government assurances that the group does not pose an imminent threat to the US homeland.