Obama says no specific, credible terror threat over holidays

Obama visited the National Counterterrorism Center in McLean, Virginia, to receive an update on the efforts under way to prevent attacks and protect national security, as millions of Americans are getting ready to travel around the country during the Christmas holidays.

Moreover – and I think everybody here will agree – we have the very best intelligence, counterterrorism, homeland security and law enforcement professionals in the world.

“If you have a private communications between two individuals, that’s harder to discern, by definition”, Obama said, emphasizing that law enforcement and intelligence professionals are “constantly monitoring” public posts, and that such probes are part of the visa review process.

Obama on Friday called on American citizens to remain vigilant against the potential threat of homegrown Daesh militants because of the difficulty of tracking “lone wolf” attackers like those who conducted a mass shooting in California.

“The point is, ISIL leaders can not hide and our next message to them is simple: ‘You are next.”‘ Obama said.

He again urged Americans to not give in to fear and said the latest attacks “only stiffen our resolve” to learn everything possible from them and make improvements where needed.

US officials have strengthened their focus on screening people entering the United States after signs of radicalization were missed when processing the fiancé visa for Tashfeen Malik, one of the San Bernardino shooters.

Thank you, everybody. Happy holidays.

“Our folks are the best”, he added. He is trying to make the case that his administration is succeeding in its fight against terrorism and the Islamic State group, but even some members of his own party are grumbling that he needs a new strategy.

The president met with his national security team at the NCTC just days after a similar meeting at the Pentagon.

President Obama also said there was “no specific and credible threat” to the homeland back on November 24th, shortly before Thanksgiving.

He said diplomats need to find a way to create a political transition that allows Assad’s allies like Russian Federation and Iran to ensure “that their equities are respected” in Syria. Obama’s penultimate year in office was, after all, ripe with major achievements, many of them realized after years of work by his administration.

In the survey tracking Americans’ views of the year’s biggest news events, Americans placed far greater importance on the massacres in Paris, San Bernardino and Charleston than the accomplishments Obama himself would rather highlight as the year comes to a close.

“But just as the threat evolves, so do we”, he added.

But the president has resisted any larger changes that would draw the United States more deeply into the chaotic civil wars in Iraq and Syria.