President Obama made a historic address in the wake of the attacks in California and Paris.
Advertisement
GOP presidential candidate Ben Carson called the speech “strange” and said that he appeared to suggest that the San Bernardino attack was “proof” that his policies are working.
The FBI is investigating the paramilitary-style attack in California as inspired by Islamic State, which controls swaths of Syria and Iraq and has shown an expanded reach beyond its Middle East strongholds, including complicity in the November 13 assaults in Paris that killed 130 people.
Administration officials said the president’s remarks would focus on how the terrorist threat has evolved and what steps the government is taking to keep Americans safe. “Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless”. Gun rights advocates say such a ban would violate the rights of people who haven’t been convicted of crimes.
The president said the US would continue its battle against ISIS, hunting down terrorists wherever they are and equipping the Syrian and Iraqi forces to join in the battle.
He did call for a review of the visa waiver program for people seeking to come to the US and said he would urge private companies and law enforcement leaders to work together to ensure potential attackers can’t use technology to evade detection.
“Our success won’t depend on tough talk, or abandoning our values or giving in to fear”, he said.
No near-term congressional action is expected on the White House’s request for authorized military force against the Islamic State group.
In his address, Mr Obama stressed that Americans should not turn against one another by “letting this fight be defined as a war between American and Islam…ISIL does not speak for Islam, they are thugs and killers…” he said.
He said the US-born couple involved in the San Bernardino massacre, Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, “had gone down the dark path of radicalisation, embracing a perverted interpretation of Islam that calls for war against America and the West”.
The president’s Sunday address is scheduled for 5 p.m. Los Angeles time and will be broadcast by KCAL9.
“When we travel down that road, we lose”, he said. “But they also know that if we occupy foreign lands, they can maintain insurgencies for years, killing thousands of our troops and draining our resources, and using our presence to draw new recruits”.
New polling shows Americans have record low confidence in Mr. Obama’s ability to handle the problem, with about two-thirds saying he lacks an effective strategy for defeating the Islamic State.
Advertisement
If the San Bernardino shootout is confirmed as an extremist attack, it would be the deadliest such incident since 9/11. The culprits in those attacks also held extremist Islamic beliefs.
