I think the only question is if Obama intends to try to depose Assad at the same time as he deals with IS. His last attempt at threatening Assad didn't turn out so well.
Why does Obama call ISIS, ISIL?
It's code, designed to be understood by
terrorists which is a word he won't use.
And the term 'Levant' blots out the existence of Israel.
How so?
Rather than use the acronym ISIS, the anti-Israel President makes certain that he uses ISIL.
"The whole acronym debate comes because we’re trying represent what is really an Arabic set of terms,” said Mark Berkson, a professor of religion at Hamline University.
The Arabic term is Al-Dawla Al-Islamiya fi al-Iraq wa al-Sham. Al-Dawla means state, Al-Islamiya means Islamic and al-Iraq means Iraq.
“The question is: What is that last part? What does al-Sham stand for?” Berkson said.
The ISIS camp thinks it’s Syria or greater Syria while the ISIL camp says it refers to the Levant, a larger geographic area that includes Syria, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan and into parts of Turkey.
Early on, ISIS was the preferred term, but as the group has widened its threat, some have argued ISIL is a better representation of the terrorist group’s aspirations to take over the entire Muslim world."
Good Question Is It ISIS ISIL Or The Islamic State CBS Minnesota
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
Levant
Historical name for the countries along the shores of the eastern
Mediterranean Sea. It was applied to
the coastlands of Anatolia and Syria, sometimes extending from Greece to Egypt. The term was often associated with Venetian trading ventures. It was also used as a synonym for the Middle or Near East. In the 16th17th centuries the term High Levant referred to the Far East (East Asia). The name Levant States was given to the French mandate of Syria and Lebanon after World War I (191418).
Levant Definition from Answers.com
As this President has no affinity for Israel....such as he clearly does for the Muslim Brotherhood and its associations, he prefers the term which obviates Israel.