The Secretary of State has determined that the Islamic State, ISIS, has been committing genocide against Christians… albeit past the deadline the previously told lawmakers they’d answer the question by. Lawmakers, in fact, were not enthused by the delay, as it really just allowed ISIS more time to kill whole groups of people.

The delay was sharply criticized by lawmakers and others who have advocated for the determination. The finding will not obligate the United States to take additional action against IS militants, according to the officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to publicly preview Kerry’s decision. The officials say Kerry would specifically mention Christians, Yazidis and two Shiite groups as victims of genocide.

The admission is a big one for the Obama administration, as it opens them up to criticism that they simply have not done enough to deter ISIS, which has been allowed to grow substantially under their watch (all this despite targeted drone strikes that may or may not be killing top, but apparently easily replaced leaders in the ISIS movement).

Kerry’s “Captain Obvious” determination, however, will lay the groundwork for Obama/Obama’s successor to work toward a military solution to the problem in the Middle East, a problem Obama can take a lot of blame for in his moves to create a power vacuum in the unstable region.