US President Barack Obama described the mass shooting in California an “act of terrorism” in an address to the nation four days after the carnage left 14 dead.
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He noted that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has no evidence that the attack was directed by a terrorist organization, but said it was clear the shooters had gone down the “dark path of radicalization”.
“What we can do, and must do, is make it harder for them to kill”, Obama said.
US President Barack Obama delivers on Sunday an address to the nation from the Oval Office on “keeping the American people safe”.
“The threat from terrorism is real but we will overcome it”, Obama said in a nationally televised speech.
He also urged Congress to pass new force authorisation for military actions under way against IS in Iraq and Syria, and also to approve legislation to stop guns from being sold to people prohibited from flying on planes in the USA for terrorist concerns. Unlike previous presidents, Obama rarely uses the Oval Office to make speeches to the American public, preferring to stand at a podium, often overlooking the grander White House East Room, instead.
Facing questions about his leadership and strategy, Obama harnessed the highest trappings of United States power to calm a country put on edge by a rampage in California that killed 14 Americans.
Obama is giving an Oval Office address on terrorism and the US response following attacks in California and Paris.
He reminded Americans that Muslim-Americans were part of United States society.
In his weekend radio and Internet address, Obama said it was “entirely possible that these two attackers were radicalized to commit this act of terror”.
Sen. Rand Paul viewed Obama’s words as “an attempt to turn a necessary discussion on terrorism and national security into a ineffective gun control debate”.
Terrorism, national security and the place of Muslims in US society have become a contentious 2016 campaign issue and are dominating the political conversation more than at any time since the September 11 attacks in 2001.
“That’s what groups like [ISIS] want”, he said.
“We should not be drawn into a long and costly ground war”, Obama said, adding that it would merely maintain the insurgency in the region and serve as a recruitment tool for terrorists. He cautioned against singling out Muslims, saying that ISIL “does not speak for Islam”.
Republican presidential hopefuls have routinely criticized Obama’s policies as ineffective and risky for the country. He warned against discriminating against Muslim-Americans, saying that would play into the hands of terrorist organizations like Islamic State.
“Let’s not forget that freedom is more powerful than fear, that we have always met challenges – whether war or depression, natural disasters or terrorist attacks – by coming together around our common ideals as one nation, as one people”, he said. “I know there are some who reject any gun-safety measures, but the fact is that our intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, no matter how effective they are, can not identify every would-be mass shooter, whether that individual was motivated by ISIL or some other hateful ideology”.
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Obama outlined his current strategy for fighting the Islamic State, as he has done repeatedly in recent months: Launching airstrikes against targets in Iraq and Syria and helping Syrian and Iraqi Kurdish fighters on the ground.
