In just his third presidential address from the Oval Office, Obama said the strategy includes hunting down “terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary”. Conducted before the shootings, the poll also found that 60 per cent disapprove of Obama’s handling of terrorism. “Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless, and by drawing upon every aspect of American power”. A CNN poll conducted even before the San Bernardino shootings shows 60 percent of Americans do not approve of Obama’s handling of terrorism.As he has after previous mass shootings, Obama called on the US Congress to pass new assault weapons restrictions. But he affirmed, “We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us”. But it may be remembered by historians as the date the 44th U.S. President tried to allay the growing fears of a nation and talk tough against terror.
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One of the biggest messages the president tried to communicate to the American people was that a fear of terrorist attacks must not translate into a fear of all Muslims and spark unnecessary targeting.
What President Obama didn’t say is that this evolving threat is among the most hard to stop. Now, if only the president would practice what he preaches.
But he also called on Congress to make sure that no one on a “no-fly” list is able to purchase a gun.
After more than a year of an indecisive military campaign, ISIS maintains its sanctuaries in Iraq and Syria to conduct and inspire attacks like Paris and San Bernardino, he said.
The president made a similar plea in Sunday’s Oval Office address on counterterrorism efforts.
The president called on Muslims to confront interpretations of Islam that lead to violence.
He implored Americans to not turn against Muslims at home, saying IS was driven by a desire to spark a war between the West and Islam, but called on Muslims to fight extremism. “That’s what groups like Isil want”, said Mr Obama in his address, using his administration’s name for Islamic State.
Krauthammer questioned Obama’s motives for the speech then pointed to his previous acts that have undermined the war on terrorism.
“Here’s what else we can not do”, he said. Hours before he spoke, Hillary Clinton – his former secretary of state and the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination – said the U.S.is “not winning” the fight against IS.
Obama hasn’t hit on an effective strategy for defeating the group, and key USA allies in the region have been unreliable, in some cases pathetically so.
Republicans have demanded that Obama back a full-scale deployment of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation ground forces to Syria and resume controversial interrogations at the Guantanamo Bay camp, which the president wants to close. Spokesman Josh Earnest said the speech was aimed at addressing the American public’s terrorism concerns and not satisfying the president’s political opponents.
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The speech signaled how anxious the White House has become about the trajectory the war against the Islamic State, or ISIS, could take if a sense of widespread panic, turbocharged by election year politics, started shaping domestic and foreign policy.
