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The White House
President Obama
addresses the nation on safety
President Barack Obama
"Let’s not forget that freedom is more powerful than fear; that we have
always met challenges -- whether war or depression; natural disasters
or terrorist attacks -- by coming together around our common ideals as
one nation and one people. So long as we stay true to that tradition, I
have no doubt that America will prevail."
Read the address:
Good evening. On Wednesday, 14 Americans were killed as they came
together to celebrate the holidays. They were taken from family and
friends who loved them deeply. They were white and black; Latino and
Asian; immigrants and American-born; moms and dads; daughters and sons.
Each of them served their fellow citizens and all of them were part of
our American family.
Tonight, I want to talk with you about this tragedy, the broader threat
of terrorism, and how we can keep our country safe.
The FBI is still gathering the facts about what happened in San
Bernardino, but here is what we know. The victims were brutally
murdered and injured by one of their coworkers and his wife. 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. But it is clear that the two of them had gone down the
dark path of radicalization, embracing a perverted interpretation of
Islam that calls for war against America and the West. They had
stockpiled assault weapons, ammunition, and pipe bombs. So this was an
act of terrorism, designed to kill innocent people.
Our nation has been at war with terrorists since al Qaeda killed nearly
3,000 Americans on 9/11. In the process, we’ve hardened our defenses --
from airports to financial centers, to other critical infrastructure.
Intelligence and law enforcement agencies have disrupted countless
plots here and overseas, and worked around the clock to keep us safe.
Our military and counterterrorism professionals have relentlessly
pursued terrorist networks overseas -- disrupting safe havens in
several different countries, killing Osama bin Laden, and decimating al
Qaeda’s leadership.
Over the last few years, however, the terrorist threat has evolved into
a new phase. As we’ve become better at preventing complex, multifaceted
attacks like 9/11, terrorists turned to less complicated acts of
violence like the mass shootings that are all too common in our
society. It is this type of attack that we saw at Fort Hood in 2009, in
Chattanooga earlier this year, and now in San Bernardino. And as groups
like ISIL grew stronger amidst the chaos of war in Iraq and then Syria,
and as the Internet erases the distance between countries, we see
growing efforts by terrorists to poison the minds of people like the
Boston Marathon bombers and the San Bernardino killers.
For seven years, I’ve confronted this evolving threat each morning in
my intelligence briefing. And since the day I took this office, I’ve
authorized U.S. forces to take out terrorists abroad precisely because
I know how real the danger is. As Commander-in-Chief, I have no greater
responsibility than the security of the American people. As a father to
two young daughters who are the most precious part of my life, I know
that we see ourselves with friends and coworkers at a holiday party
like the one in San Bernardino. I know we see our kids in the faces of
the young people killed in Paris. And I know that after so much war,
many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that
has no immediate cure.
Well, here’s what I want you to know: The threat from terrorism is
real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL and any other
organization that tries to harm us. Our success won’t depend on tough
talk, or abandoning our values, or giving into fear. That’s what groups
like ISIL are hoping for. Instead, we will prevail by being strong and
smart, resilient and relentless, and by drawing upon every aspect of
American power.
Here’s how. First, our military will continue to hunt down terrorist
plotters in any country where it is necessary. In Iraq and Syria,
airstrikes are taking out ISIL leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers,
infrastructure. And since the attacks in Paris, our closest allies --
including France, Germany, and the United Kingdom -- have ramped up
their contributions to our military campaign, which will help us
accelerate our effort to destroy ISIL.
Second, we will continue to provide training and equipment to tens of
thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground so
that we take away their safe havens. In both countries, we’re deploying
Special Operations Forces who can accelerate that offensive. We’ve
stepped up this effort since the attacks in Paris, and we’ll continue
to invest more in approaches that are working on the ground.
Third, we’re working with friends and allies to stop ISIL’s operations
-- to disrupt plots, cut off their financing, and prevent them from
recruiting more fighters. Since the attacks in Paris, we’ve surged
intelligence-sharing with our European allies. We’re working with
Turkey to seal its border with Syria. And we are cooperating with
Muslim-majority countries -- and with our Muslim communities here at
home -- to counter the vicious ideology that ISIL promotes online.
Fourth, with American leadership, the international community has begun
to establish a process -- and timeline -- to pursue ceasefires and a
political resolution to the Syrian war. Doing so will allow the Syrian
people and every country, including our allies, but also countries like
Russia, to focus on the common goal of destroying ISIL -- a group that
threatens us all.
This is our strategy to destroy ISIL. It is designed and supported by
our military commanders and counterterrorism experts, together with 65
countries that have joined an American-led coalition. And we constantly
examine our strategy to determine when additional steps are needed to
get the job done. That’s why I’ve ordered the Departments of State and
Homeland Security to review the visa program under which the female
terrorist in San Bernardino originally came to this country. And that’s
why I will urge high-tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder
for terrorists to use technology to escape from justice.
Now, here at home, we have to work together to address the challenge.
There are several steps that Congress should take right away.
To begin with, Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list
is able to buy a gun. What could possibly be the argument for allowing
a terrorist suspect to buy a semi-automatic weapon? This is a matter of
national security.
We also need to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault
weapons like the ones that were used in San Bernardino. I know there
are some who reject any gun safety measures. But the fact is that our
intelligence and law enforcement agencies -- no matter how effective
they are -- cannot identify every would-be mass shooter, whether that
individual is motivated by ISIL or some other hateful ideology. What we
can do -- and must do -- is make it harder for them to kill.
Next, we should put in place stronger screening for those who come to
America without a visa so that we can take a hard look at whether
they’ve traveled to warzones. And we’re working with members of both
parties in Congress to do exactly that.
Finally, if Congress believes, as I do, that we are at war with ISIL,
it should go ahead and vote to authorize the continued use of military
force against these terrorists. For over a year, I have ordered our
military to take thousands of airstrikes against ISIL targets. I think
it’s time for Congress to vote to demonstrate that the American people
are united, and committed, to this fight.
My fellow Americans, these are the steps that we can take together to
defeat the terrorist threat. Let me now say a word about what we should
not do.
We should not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in
Iraq or Syria. That’s what groups like ISIL want. They know they can’t
defeat us on the battlefield. ISIL fighters were part of the insurgency
that we faced in Iraq. But they also know that if we occupy foreign
lands, they can maintain insurgencies for years, killing thousands of
our troops, draining our resources, and using our presence to draw new
recruits.
The strategy that we are using now -- airstrikes, Special Forces, and
working with local forces who are fighting to regain control of their
own country -- that is how we’ll achieve a more sustainable victory.
And it won’t require us sending a new generation of Americans overseas
to fight and die for another decade on foreign soil.
Here’s what else we cannot do. We cannot turn against one another by
letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam. That,
too, is what groups like ISIL want. ISIL does not speak for Islam. They
are thugs and killers, part of a cult of death, and they account for a
tiny fraction of more than a billion Muslims around the world --
including millions of patriotic Muslim Americans who reject their
hateful ideology. Moreover, the vast majority of terrorist victims
around the world are Muslim. 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.
That does not mean denying the fact that an extremist ideology has
spread within some Muslim communities. This is a real problem that
Muslims must confront, without excuse. Muslim leaders here and around
the globe have to continue working with us to decisively and
unequivocally reject the hateful ideology that groups like ISIL and al
Qaeda promote; to speak out against not just acts of violence, but also
those interpretations of Islam that are incompatible with the values of
religious tolerance, mutual respect, and human dignity.
But 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. It’s our responsibility to reject
proposals that Muslim Americans should somehow be treated differently.
Because when we travel down that road, we lose. That kind of
divisiveness, that betrayal of our values plays into the hands of
groups like ISIL. Muslim Americans are our friends and our neighbors,
our co-workers, our sports heroes -- and, yes, they are our men and
women in uniform who are willing to die in defense of our country. We
have to remember that.
My fellow Americans, I am confident we will succeed in this mission
because we are on the right side of history. We were founded upon a
belief in human dignity -- that no matter who you are, or where you
come from, or what you look like, or what religion you practice, you
are equal in the eyes of God and equal in the eyes of the law.
Even in this political season, even as we properly debate what steps I
and future Presidents must take to keep our country safe, let’s make
sure we never forget what makes us exceptional. Let’s not forget that
freedom is more powerful than fear; that we have always met challenges
-- whether war or depression, natural disasters or terrorist attacks --
by coming together around our common ideals as one nation, as one
people. So long as we stay true to that tradition, I have no doubt
America will prevail.
Thank you. God bless you, and may God bless the United States of
America.
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