As the Obama White House continues to flesh out its strategy for combating the Islamic State, the terrorist group that has claimed much of Iraq and Syria, rest assured knowing that the U.S. is in the best of hands.

Or maybe not.

Consider the following statement, which was made Thursday by a senior White House official during a conference call [emphasis added]:

I guess I would just add one thing on the coalition question — and I think this is important to really focus on, which is to say, in discussions with governments in the region, notably the Saudis and the Jordanians, what is clear is that we have a very common view of this threat. And this is really quite unusual. ISIL has been I think a galvanizing threat around the Sunni partners in the region.

They view it as an existential threat to them. Saudi Arabia has an extensive border with Syria. The Jordanians are experiencing a destabilizing impact of over a million refugees from the Syrian conflict, and are profoundly concerned that ISIL, who has stated that their ambitions are not confined to Iraq and Syria, but rather to expand to the broader region.

Oh, dear.

Here, let’s clear up exactly what’s incorrect in that statement, which was prompted by a larger discussion on the Obama administration's attempts to recruit allies to help it fight the Islamic State:





But don't worry: The country's in the best of hands.