In farewell address, Obama claims victory over terror

During farewell address, President Obama claims success and victory against terrorism and ISIS. 

Outgoing US President Barack Obama claimed on Tuesday during his farewell address in Chicago that the US succeeded in preventing any major coordinated terrorist attack from occurring on its homeland during his presidency.

“Because of the extraordinary courage of our men and women in uniform, because of our intelligence officers, and law enforcement, and diplomats who support our troops, no foreign terrorist organization has successfully planned and executed an attack on our homeland these past 8 years,” said Obama.

Obama acknowledged, however, the occurrence of several terror attacks in the United States during his second term including in Orlando, in June of 2016, and in San Bernardino, in December of 2015. The Islamic State (ISIS) hailed the couple who perpetrated the San Bernardino massacre as “supporters” of the terror group and referred to Omar Mateen, the perpetrator of the attack in Orlando, as “one of the soldiers of the Caliphate in America.”

Without mentioning ISIS, the president said that the attacks “remind us of how dangerous radicalization can be.” Obama did talk about what he felt to were military successes against the terror group, including a reduction in the territory in Iraq and Syria controlled by ISIS.

“The global coalition we are leading against ISIL has taken out their leaders, taken away about half their territory,” Obama added, insisting that “ISIL will be destroyed and no one who threatens America will ever be safe.”

During the presidential campaign trail, US President-elect Trump accused Obama of being “the founder of ISIS” as a result of his Middle East policy which Trump said paved the way for the Islamic State by destabilizing regimes of secular political leaders like Muammar Qaddafi in Libya and current Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

Barack ObamaDonald TrumpSan Bernardino attack