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| Edited By: DNA Web Team |Source: DNA webdesk |Updated: Dec 07, 2015, 12:02 PM IST
US President Barack Obama on Sunday night during a televised address from the Oval Office in the White House said that the US will destroy Islamic State, and condemned the recent San Bernardino attack as an 'act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people.'
He reassured Americans that his administration is doing all it can to reduce the risk of terror attacks after a couple in California carried out what he called 'a new phase' of terrorism.
Stating that, after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate 'cure', Obama added, "The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL."
"The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it. We will destroy ISIL" —@POTUS: https://t.co/oDIQ2V3W6i https://t.co/8gvkcnCAml
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 7, 2015
Obama added that the US military will continue to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country necessary. "US is working with friends and allies to disrupt ISIL operations, funding. Strategy to fight Islamic State is designed by military strategists, is constantly re-examined," said the President.
"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 a more than a billion Muslims around the world, including millions of patriotic Muslim-Americans who reject their hateful ideology," he said.
"ISIL does not speak for Islam. They are thugs, and killers—part of a cult of death" —@POTUS https://t.co/g3VxwSP7Fe
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 7, 2015
The President also said that the Muslim leaders have to work with us to reject ideology of ISIL, adding "Extremist ideology has spread between some Muslim communities"
Obama spoke just four days after US born Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, and his Pakistani wife, Tashfeen Malik, 29, opened fire on a holiday party for civil servants in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people. But Obama said there was no evidence the assault was directed by a militant group overseas or part of a broader conspiracy at home.
"We cannot turn against each other by letting this fight be defined as a war between America and Islam," he said.
Urging high tech and law enforcement leaders to make it harder for terrorists to use technology to escape justice, Obama said, "Congress should act to make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun."
Here are steps Congress can take right now to help defeat the terrorist threat from ISIL and keep Americans safe. https://t.co/YFgbTSXndX
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 7, 2015
Obama has come under consistent pressure from Republicans to step up his response to Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, after the shooting in San Bernardino, California last week that killed 14 people, raising fears among Americans about the threat of more attacks.
