Grappling with attacks, United States leaders ask Muslim Americans to fight back

They walked down “the dark path of radicalization”, Obama said. Indeed, Obama’s Pentagon brass refused to call the attack an act of terror; they described it as just another case of workplace violence.

So he said a meeting of the sides could be fruitful, though he said it would be best if civil liberties groups could participate, too. And especially for his point that the number one victim of groups like ISIS are Muslims. We also allow countries – or people from dozens of countries around the world to come here without a visa, everyone though some of those countries have been the source of terrorist attackers in Europe and in the Middle East. We also need to take a serious look at the Syrian refugee program as well.

“That does not mean denying the fact that an extremist ideology has spread within some Muslim communities.” he said.

“He also called on Muslims in America to confront the hateful ideology espoused by that minority and speak out for religious tolerance, mutual respect and human dignity”.

Said Asra Nomani, a former Wall Street Journal reporter who is co-director of the Pearl Project, in memory of former WSJ colleague Daniel Pearl, who was kidnapped by Pakistani militants and subsequently murdered in 2002, “We are in an ideological war”. Because when we travel down that road, we lose.

“I know how real the danger is”, said Obama. In a Washington Post-ABC News poll conducted after the Paris attacks but before San Bernardino shootings, a record low 40 percent of Americans approved of his handling of threats of terrorism, far from its peak of 69 percent after Osama bin Laden was killed in 2011. He’s not been willing to negotiate with congress over common sense measures that will give the American people the confidence that we’re not letting Islamic State or al Qaeda sleepers into this country to attack Americans. But he affirmed, “We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us”.

“He had to sound tough and aggressive against ISIS, but at the same time he had to tell Americans that they really didn’t have that much to fear”, Brands says.

Some of the only concrete action plans Obama spoke about had to do with no-fly lists and gun control. Like many, I hoped President Obama would take a clear stand against anti-Muslim bigotry. He then outlined a plan to strengthen the existing USA effort to train local forces and engage Sunni tribal leaders.Obama’s comments Sunday could prove to be the kick-start the AUMF debate needed: “If Congress believes, as I do, that we are at war with [the Islamic State], it should go ahead and vote to authorize the continued use of military force against these terrorists”. Obama, however, emphasised that he did not seek an extended ground war against the radical group.

But I also know that even the sharpest sword in the grip of a less-than-skilled swordsman is no guarantee of security from, or victory over, a determined opponent – which is what we have in the violent Islamist extremism we face today. House Speaker Paul Ryan dismissed the president’s address as “a half-hearted attempt to defend and distract from a failing policy”. It is interesting that during our nation’s long history, even during two world wars against major military powers such as Germany and Japan and a long cold war against the Soviet Union, all of which had large and extensive espionage networks, no domestic terrorist attacks of the size of 9/11 ever occurred.

We also need to greatly bolster our efforts to counter ISIS’s recruitment online which is objectively outnumbering our own efforts. “If we’re to succeed in defeating terrorism we must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies, rather than push them away through suspicion and hate”, president Obama said. We should not double down on this failed and unsafe policy that the President called for tonight. The president’s critics – and increasingly, some members of his own party – have questioned his strategy.

Several elected officials believe the President’s speech about ISIS and terrorism Sunday night was just that… a speech. “This is a matter of national security”.