The evolution of President Obama's response to ISIS

By Eric Sandler

Back in June, President Obama announced to Congress that he would be deploying 300 American troops to Iraq in order to help secure U.S. assets and prevent the Iraqi government from crumbling. He was not firm on details or plans, but assured the American public that this would not be another surge of soldiers into a war zone many didn't think the United States should even be involved in. "Let's not plunge this back into the abyss," he said to the wary nation.

The number of troops grew and further airstrikes were authorized as a humanitarian mission emerged for the Yazidi refugees stranded on Mount Sinjar. Then the Islamic State militants struck back with the executions of James Foley, Steven Joel Sotloff, and David Haines among other heinous acts. Now President Obama has vowed to lead an international coalition with the intent to "degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL."

Joe Posner produced a piece for Vox splicing together clips of how the president publicly addressed the threat of Islamic State militants from June through September. "The threat of ISIS grew rapidly this year, and nothing illustrates the story as clearly as the President's own evolving comments on the terrorist group," he explains. Check it out:

What do you think of the way President Obama has handled the growing threat of ISIS? Comment below.