President Barack Obama today vowed to “destroy” the Islamic State while reassuring rattled Americans in the aftermath of the California massacre that the US will overcome the “new phase” of terror threat that seeks to “poison the minds” of people here and around the world.
In a rare address to the nation from his Oval Office at the White House, Obama said the threat from terrorism was real, but the US would overcome it. However, he ruled out sending large-scale troops to Syria and Iraq to defeat the "cult of death".
Obama said his strategy to destroy the IS was designed and supported by US military commanders and counter-terrorism experts, together with 65 countries that had joined an American-led coalition targeting the terror outfit. “We will destroy IS and any other organisation that tries to harm us. Our success won’t depend on tough talk, or abandoning our values or giving in to fear. That’s what groups such as the IS are hoping for. Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless. And by drawing upon every aspect of American power,” he said.
In his primetime address, Obama said: “We should not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq or Syria. That’s what groups such as IS want. They know they can’t defeat us on the battlefield. IS 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 and draining our resources, and using our presence to draw new recruits,” he said.
Asserting that the US military would continue to hunt down terror plotters in any country where it was necessary, he said: “In Iraq and Syria, air strikes are targeted at IS leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, infrastructure."
