Obama said it is the responsibility of Muslim leaders to “root out misguided ideas” in their community; and he said it is the “responsibility of all Americans, of every faith, to reject discrimination”. Judging by comments before and after the president’s speech, though, political leadership in the nation’s capital remains as divided as ever.
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Obama made the 13-minute address, after the announcement by the Federal Bureau of Investigation that it is investigating the deadly mass shooting in California as an “act of terrorism”.
But Mr Obama recognized that the killers had gone down “the dark path of radicalization, embracing a perverted interpretation of Islam that calls for war against America and the West”. Attack on Paris has been followed by attacks in other parts of the world including the United Kingdom and the USA.
He pledged, for example, to “hunt down terrorist plotters” anywhere they are.
Shortly after Mr Obama’s address, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan said in a statement, “Until we hear from the president what more can be done…”
Last week, the terror threat drew even closer for Americans when Malik, 29, originally from Pakistan, and her 28-year-old American-born husband launched an attack on an office party lunch in San Bernardino.
The growing influence of ISIS in particular, which has used social media and technology to expand its reach, has changed the dynamic.
“The opportunity was to give Americans reassurance that this was a president who totally focused on protecting us”, he said.
Four days after 14 people were killed in California in an attack-the president finally used the “T” word: Terrorism.
Concluding his address, Obama reminded the nation that “freedom is more powerful than fear” and called on America to be strong now more than ever, as they have always met challenges, be it natural disasters or terrorist attacks, as a unified country. But, he said, the USA strategy should not involved sending more soldiers across the world to fight. A married couple, who might have been inspired by Islamic State, shot and killed 14 people and wounded 21 in the Southern California city of San Bernardino. “For over a year, I have ordered our military to take thousands of air strikes against ISIL targets”.
President Barack Obama went primetime with the conversation about terrorism Sunday night.
He also called on Congress to pass new authorization for military actions underway against IS in Iraq and Syria and to approve legislation to keep people on the “no-fly list” from buying guns.
“What could possibly be the argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a semiautomatic weapon?” He called it a matter of national security to prevent potential killers from getting guns.
Nevertheless, “they had stockpiled assault weapons, ammunition and pipe bombs”, he added. “I really don’t want to talk about who did it, but you know, we just want to say that they were awful people and they were thugs”.
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A senior administration official said the speech was created to convey the seriousness with which Mr. Obama was taking the shootings in San Bernardino, which are being investigated as a terror attack. Rubio told Fox News after the speech. “President Obama took time from Americans last night to double down on a failed strategy”.
