The most powerful tool to fight ISIS is to prevent the group’s recent terror attacks in Paris from injecting fear in communities or governments around the world, President Obama said Sunday during his trip to Malaysia.
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Rejecting the notion of an existential threat, Obama said the Islamic State “can’t beat us on the battlefield, so they try to terrorize us into being afraid”.
“This is who we want to help”, Obama said.
The House passed a bipartisan bill on a veto-proof majority that would significantly slow the influx by creating additional screening requirements, a measure the White House has threatened to veto.
Most of the children at the center were members of the Rohingya minority who have fled persecution, discrimination and ethnic violence in Myanmar, officials said.
Obama commented today at a learning center in the Malaysian capital that serves the poor, including a few refugees. The hateful vision of an organization like ISIL is no match for the strength of nations and people around the world who are united to live in security and peace and in harmony.
Obama also said there was an “increasing awareness” by Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Islamic State is Moscow’s gravest threat in the Middle East. The militants claimed responsibility for downing a Russian passenger jet in Egypt last month with 224 on board.
President Obama said the USA will continue to lead the global coalition to roll back ISIL in Iraq and Syria to take out more of their leaders and commanders so they will not be able to threaten us. “They’re just like our kids”, Obama said. Ted Cruz said the administration’s refugee policy is “a disaster caused by the Obama/Clinton foreign policy”.
Obama noted that the world is now focused on the humanitarian tragedy in Syria, where years of civil war have forced millions to flee to other countries to escape the bloodshed.
“Our friends here in Asia have been victims of terrorism and many of them are close counter terrorism partners with us”.
A third body was found in a badly-damaged apartment block where the suspected ringleader of the Paris attacks was killed in a ferocious shootout with police, prosecutors said Friday…
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Since Paris, the refugee issue has reverberated on the 2016 presidential campaign trail, where fears about Muslims in the USA have been voiced with a level of openness not seen since 9/11. The president and world leaders are set to gather in Paris next week for long-scheduled climate talks. Even if the terror group is targeting cities to spread terror, Obama has urged not to be afraid and more specifically, not to overreact.
