President Obama Delivers Counterterrorism Speech

“No foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland”.

The president detailed various successes that the US has had over the past eight years in fighting against terrorists affiliated with ISIS, Al Qaeda, and other extremist groups, whom he called “thugs and murderers”, and also mentioned how the nation’s approach to fighting terrorism has shifted from large-scale military action to providing support for foreign troops already on the ground.

“Terrorists would love to see us walk away from the type of work that builds worldwide coalitions and ends conflicts and stops the spread of deadly weapons”, Obama said.

Obama also called for the need to close Guantanamo Bay, another area where he and Trump differ.

In a warning that appeared aimed at Trump, who has called for barring Muslim immigrants temporarily, Obama said the USA doesn’t impose religious tests.

“I must protect our people, but I also swore an oath to defend our constitution”, Obama said. He also highlighted his change in strategy – shifting from a major USA military presence on the ground to supporting host nations with a counterterrorism and training role.

“By maintaining these civil liberties, we sustain the confidence of the American people”, he said, adding that it makes citizens more likely to help the government.

Obama spoke after meeting with members of the military at US Central Command, which oversees US operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, and US Special Operations Command. “We have to pursue a smart strategy that can be sustained”.

Critics say that while US and Iraqi forces have made progress this year in rolling back IS gains in Iraq, Obama’s hands-off approach has backfired in Syria, where covert USA backing of a few rebel groups has failed to either dislodge the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad or significantly beat back IS territorial gains there. “Terrorists have been taken off the battlefield and we’ve done this even as we’ve drawn down almost 180,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan”.

His words stood in sharp contrast to Trump’s.

“We will not achieve the kind of clearly defined victory comparable to those that we won in previous wars against nations”, Obama said.

Obama also expressed gratitude to the country’s special operations forces.

“Protecting liberty: that’s something we do for all Americans and not just some”, he said.

Gen Flynn, who has attracted controversy over his comments critical of Islam, has urged a far more aggressive military campaign against IS. “War has been a part of life in Afghanistan for over 30 years and the United States can not eliminate the Taliban in that country”, he said.

The rise of Daesh in Iraq and Syria caught President Barack Obama and his intelligence officers by surprise, he acknowledged during remarks aired Wednesday. “These terrorists can never directly destroy our way of life, but we can do it for them if we lose track of who we are and the values that this nation was founded upon”.

Trump, who said he may announce his Secretary of State nominee next week, dismissed speculation that he is just stringing Romney along to embarrass the former 2012 Republican presidential candidate.