After Brussels attack, Obama vows US to battle IS aggressively

In the wake of the Brussels bombing, US President Barack Obama declares that fighting the Islamic State is his “No. 1 priority” and pledges that the United States will pursue the jihadist group until it is destroyed.

“I’ve got a lot of things on my plate, but my top priority is to defeat ISIL and to eliminate the scourge of this barbaric terrorism that’s been taking place around the world,” he says in the European Union capital during a news conference in Buenos Aires, where he is meeting with the country’s new president, Mauricio Macri.

An honor guard looks at US President Barack Obama as he enters the government house in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday, March 23, 2016 (David Fernandez/Pool Photo via AP)

“There’s no more important item on my agenda than going after them and defeating them. The issue is, how do we do it in an intelligent way?”

Obama calls on the world to unite behind fighting what he calls “senseless and vicious” acts.

But he offers few signs that he plans to retool his strategy in light of the Brussels bombing. The president says his approach to fighting the group has constantly “evolved” to meet the threat and he vowed to remains steady and “resolute.’

— AP