Obama`s Oval Office Address

President Barack Obama spent almost 20 percent of his Oval Office address on terrorism to urge Americans not to be racist, about twice as long as he took to describe the threat of ISIS.

Facing what President Barack Obama has called a new phase of terrorism, USA officials appealed to Muslim Americans on Monday to fight harder against extremist ideology.

He said the US-born couple involved in the San Bernardino massacre, Syed Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, “had gone down the dark path of radicalisation, embracing a perverted interpretation of Islam that calls for war against America and the West”. Following on the heels of the deadly strike by Islamic State terrorists in Paris three weeks ago, the shootings raised public alarm and revived criticism of Obama from political opponents and even some allies that he hasn’t clearly articulated a strategy to combat the extremist group.

President Obama isn’t seeking re-election, but his Sunday address about fighting Islamic State-style terrorism will be a major topic of the 2016 race to succeed him, according to Republicans who critiqued the speech.

It was only the third time that Obama was addressing the nation from his office in the White House to reflect the gravity of the situation. But he did concede that the source of the terror threat to the U.S.is an “extreme ideology that has been spread through some Muslim communities”.

Obama specifically asked Congress to support his plan to ban anyone on the No Fly List and Terror Watch List from buying a gun.

Leaders of the Islamic center where Johnson spoke, All Dulles Area Muslim Society, who said they have been doing all they can since the September 11, 2001, al Qaeda attacks on NY and Washington. But others, like the San Bernardino shooters, are living like normal citizens until one day they decide to carry out a terrorist attack against the society they have been indoctrinated to hate.

“Just as it is the responsibility of Muslims around the world to root out misguided ideas that lead to radicalization, it is the responsibility of all Americans, of every faith, to reject discrimination”. It is our responsibility to reject religious tests on who we admit into this country.

“So far, we have no evidence that the killers were directed by a terrorist organization overseas or that they were part of a broader conspiracy here at home”. Yet after more than a year of an indecisive military campaign, ISIL maintains its sanctuaries in Iraq and Syria from which to conduct and inspire attacks like Paris and San Bernardino. “It’s part of a series of tools that have kept us safe and it’s an essential part of the national security of our country”, Bush argued. They know they can’t defeat us on the battlefield.