Obama vows to destroy IS and defeat ‘new phase’ of terror threat

A CNN poll conducted even before the San Bernardino shootings shows 60 percent of Americans do not approve of Obama’s handling of terrorism.As he has after previous mass shootings, Obama called on the US Congress to pass new assault weapons restrictions.

Girls who survived what activists said was a ground-to-ground missile attack by forces of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad, hold hands at Aleppo’s Bab al-Hadeed district yesterday. “I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure”, he said.

In regard to these efforts, and other attempts to attack America, Obama pledged to “destroy ISIL [also known as the Islamic State, IS or ISIS] and any other organization that tries to harm us”.

His usual cool and calm self, President Barack Obama played reassurer-in-chief to a nation fearful about homegrown terrorists after the bloodbath in San Bernardino.

The president’s decision to speak from the Oval Office on USA prime-time television reflected the White House’s concern that his message on the recent attacks has not broken through, particularly in the midst of a heated presidential
campaign. “That too is what groups like what ISIL wants”.

During his address, Obama also called for Congress to give him authorization for military action against terrorist forces – a power that some believe he has dating back to a 2001 resolution. He called on Muslim-Americans to root out radicalization in their communities. Gun-rights advocates say such a ban would violate the rights of people who haven’t been convicted of crimes.

“Neither of those two people were on a no-fly list”, he said of San Bernardino attackers.

From dismissively describing the group as a “JV [junior-varsity] team” in January 2014 to announcing on the eve of the Islamic State-led Paris attacks that the group was “contained” in Iraq and Syria, the president has done little to inspire confidence. Our success won’t depend on tough talk or abandoning our values or giving into fear.

Republican leaders and presidential candidates panneD the speech.

The president said “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”.

Some of the only concrete action plans Obama spoke about had to do with no-fly lists and gun control.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said the speech provided the President an global stage to make his case but failed miserably.

“It is a moral outrage and a national disgrace that civilians can legally purchase weapons designed specifically to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency”, it said.

“We are out there fighting this war”, Magid said.

That Obama addressed the American people in primetime and from the Oval Office – a location he had spoken from only twice previously in his presidency – seemed to suggest the administration wants to place a lot of importance on an issue that has been hard to define in political terms.

The U.S. has recently added special operations forces in both Iraq and Syria, but Obama continues to reject placing regular troops on the ground. Does it allow the Islamic State to gain a firmer foothold?

In closing, the president noted that freedom is more powerful than fear, saying the nation has always met challenges, whether “war or depression, natural disasters or terrorist attacks”.