×ÖÄ» good evening on Wednesday 14
×ÖÄ» Americans were killed as they came together to
×ÖÄ» celebrate the holidays were
×ÖÄ» taken from family and friends who love them deeply
×ÖÄ» they were white and black
×ÖÄ» Latino and Asian immigrants an american-born moms
×ÖÄ» and dads daughters and sons each
×ÖÄ» of them serve their fellow citizens all of them
×ÖÄ» were part of our American family
×ÖÄ» tonight I wanna talk with you about this tragedy
×ÖÄ» the broader threat of
×ÖÄ» terrorism and how we can keep our country safe
×ÖÄ» the FBI is still gathering
×ÖÄ» the facts about what happened in San Bernardino
×ÖÄ» but here's what we know the
×ÖÄ» victims were brutally murdered and injured by one of
×ÖÄ» their co-workers and his wife
×ÖÄ» so far we have no evidence that the killers were
×ÖÄ» directed by a terrorist
×ÖÄ» organization overseas or that they were part of a
×ÖÄ» broader conspiracy here at
×ÖÄ» home but it is clear that the two of them had gone
×ÖÄ» down the dark path of
×ÖÄ» radicalization embracing a perverted interpretation of
×ÖÄ» Islam that calls for war against
×ÖÄ» America and the West had stockpiled assault
×ÖÄ» weapons ammunition and pipe
×ÖÄ» months so this was an act of terrorism designed to
×ÖÄ» kill innocent people our nation
×ÖÄ» has been at war with terrorists and al-qaida
×ÖÄ» killed nearly 3,000 Americans
×ÖÄ» on 911 in the process we have hardened their
×ÖÄ» defenses from airports to
×ÖÄ» financial centers to other critical infrastructure
×ÖÄ» intelligence and law enforcement
×ÖÄ» agencies have disrupted countless plots
×ÖÄ» here and overseas and worked
×ÖÄ» around the clock to keep us safe our military and
×ÖÄ» counterterrorism professionals
×ÖÄ» have relentlessly pursued terrorist networks
×ÖÄ» overseas disrupting safe
×ÖÄ» havens in several different countries killing
×ÖÄ» Osama bin Laden and decimating
×ÖÄ» al-qaida's leadership over the last few
×ÖÄ» years however the terrorist
×ÖÄ» threat has evolved into a new face as we've become
×ÖÄ» better at preventing complex
×ÖÄ» multifaceted attacks like 911 terrorists
×ÖÄ» turned to less complicated
×ÖÄ» acts of violence like the mass shootings that
×ÖÄ» are all too common in our society
×ÖÄ» it is this type of attack that we saw at Fort
×ÖÄ» Hood in 2009 in chattanooga
×ÖÄ» earlier this year and now in San Bernardino and his
×ÖÄ» groups like ISIL grew stronger
×ÖÄ» amidst the chaos of war in Iraq and then Syria
×ÖÄ» and as the internet erases the
×ÖÄ» distance between countries we see growing efforts
×ÖÄ» by terrorists to poison the
×ÖÄ» minds of people like the Boston Marathon box and
×ÖÄ» the San Bernardino killers
×ÖÄ» for seven years I've confronted this evolving
×ÖÄ» threat each and every morning
×ÖÄ» and my intelligence briefing and since the day
×ÖÄ» I took this office I have
×ÖÄ» authorized us-led forces to take out terrorists
×ÖÄ» abroad precisely because I know
×ÖÄ» how real the dangerous as commander-in-chief I
×ÖÄ» have no greater responsibility
×ÖÄ» than the security of the American people as a
×ÖÄ» father to two young daughters
×ÖÄ» who are the most precious part of my life I know
×ÖÄ» that we see ourselves with
×ÖÄ» friends and co-workers at a holiday party like the
×ÖÄ» one in San Bernardino and always
×ÖÄ» see our kids in the faces of the young people
×ÖÄ» killed in Paris and I know that
×ÖÄ» after so much more americans are asking whether
×ÖÄ» we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure
×ÖÄ» well here's what I want you
×ÖÄ» to know the threat from terrorism is real but we
×ÖÄ» will overcome we will destroy
×ÖÄ» ISIL than any other organization that tries to
×ÖÄ» harm us our success will depend
×ÖÄ» on tough talk or abandoning our values for giving
×ÖÄ» in to fear that's what groups
×ÖÄ» like I saw are hoping for instead we will prevail
×ÖÄ» by being strong and smart
×ÖÄ» resilient and relentless and by drawing upon every
×ÖÄ» aspect of American power here's how first
×ÖÄ» our military will continue to
×ÖÄ» hunt down terrorists plotters in any country where
×ÖÄ» it is necessary in Iraq and
×ÖÄ» Syria air strikes are taking out isolators heavy
×ÖÄ» weapons oil tankers
×ÖÄ» infrastructure and since the attacks and parents are
×ÖÄ» closest allies including France
×ÖÄ» Germany and the United Kingdom have ramped up
×ÖÄ» their contributions to our
×ÖÄ» military campaign which will help us accelerate
×ÖÄ» our effort to destroy ISIL
×ÖÄ» second we will continue to provide training and
×ÖÄ» equipment to tens of thousands
×ÖÄ» of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ice along the
×ÖÄ» ground so that we take away
×ÖÄ» their safe havens in both countries were deploying
×ÖÄ» special operations forces
×ÖÄ» who can accelerate that offensive we've stepped
×ÖÄ» up this effort since the
×ÖÄ» attacks in Paris and will continue to invest more
×ÖÄ» in approaches that are working on the ground
×ÖÄ» third we're working with
×ÖÄ» friends and allies to stop by sales operations to
×ÖÄ» disrupt plots cut off their
×ÖÄ» finances and prevent them from recruiting more
×ÖÄ» fighters since the attacks
×ÖÄ» in Paris we've surged intelligence sharing with
×ÖÄ» our european allies were working
×ÖÄ» with Turkey to seal its border with Syria and
×ÖÄ» we are co-operating with
×ÖÄ» muslim-majority countries and with our Muslim
×ÖÄ» communities here at home to
×ÖÄ» counter the vicious ideology that I saw promotes
×ÖÄ» online forth with american
×ÖÄ» leadership the international community has begin
×ÖÄ» begun to establish a process
×ÖÄ» and timeline to pursue cease-fires and a
×ÖÄ» political resolution to the
×ÖÄ» Syrian war doing so will allow the Syrian people
×ÖÄ» and every country including our
×ÖÄ» allies but also countries like Russia to focus
×ÖÄ» on the common goal of destroying
×ÖÄ» I saw a group that threatens us all this is our
×ÖÄ» strategy to destroy ISIL it is
×ÖÄ» designed and supported by our military commanders
×ÖÄ» and counterterrorism experts
×ÖÄ» together with 65 countries that have joined an
×ÖÄ» american-led coalition and we
×ÖÄ» constantly examine our strategy to determine when
×ÖÄ» additional steps are needed to get the job
×ÖÄ» that's why I've ordered the
×ÖÄ» Department of State of Homeland Security to review
×ÖÄ» the visa waiver program under
×ÖÄ» which the female terrorists in San Bernardino
×ÖÄ» originally came to this
×ÖÄ» country and that's why I will urge high-tech and
×ÖÄ» want for some leaders to make
×ÖÄ» it harder for terrorists to use technology to
×ÖÄ» escape from justice now you're
×ÖÄ» at home we have to work together to address the
×ÖÄ» challenge there are several
×ÖÄ» steps the congress should take right away to begin
×ÖÄ» with Congress should act to
×ÖÄ» make sure no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a
×ÖÄ» gun
×ÖÄ» what could possibly be the
×ÖÄ» argument for allowing a terrorist suspect to buy a
×ÖÄ» semi-automatic weapon is a
×ÖÄ» matter of national security we also need to make
×ÖÄ» it harder for people to buy
×ÖÄ» powerful assault weapons like the ones that were
×ÖÄ» used in San Bernardino and
×ÖÄ» order some who reject any gun safety measures but
×ÖÄ» the fact is that our intelligence
×ÖÄ» and law enforcement agencies no matter how
×ÖÄ» effective there cannot
×ÖÄ» identify every would-be mass shooter whether that
×ÖÄ» individual is motivated by I saw
×ÖÄ» or some other hateful ideology but we can do and
×ÖÄ» must do is make it harder
×ÖÄ» for them to kill next we should put in place
×ÖÄ» stronger screening for those
×ÖÄ» who come to America without a visa so that we can
×ÖÄ» take a hard look at whether
×ÖÄ» they've traveled to war zones and we're working
×ÖÄ» with members of both parties in Congress to do exactly that
×ÖÄ» finally if congress believes
×ÖÄ» as I do that we are at war with ISIL it should
×ÖÄ» go ahead and vote to authorize
×ÖÄ» the continued use of military force against
×ÖÄ» these terrorists for over a
×ÖÄ» year I have ordered our military to take thousands
×ÖÄ» of air strikes against tyson
×ÖÄ» targets I think it's time for Congress to vote to
×ÖÄ» demonstrate that the american
×ÖÄ» people are united and committed to this fight my
×ÖÄ» fellow americans these are the
×ÖÄ» steps that we can take together to defeat the
×ÖÄ» terrorist threat to me now say a word about what we should not do
×ÖÄ» we should not be drawn once
×ÖÄ» more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq war
×ÖÄ» Syria and what groups like I
×ÖÄ» so want they know they can't defeat is on the
×ÖÄ» battlefield ISIL fighters were
×ÖÄ» part of the insurgency that we faced in Iraq but
×ÖÄ» they also know that if we
×ÖÄ» occupy four lands they can maintain insurgencies
×ÖÄ» forty years killing thousands
×ÖÄ» of our troops draining resources and using our
×ÖÄ» presence to draw new recruits the strategy that we are using now
×ÖÄ» airstrikes special forces
×ÖÄ» and working with local forces were fighting to
×ÖÄ» regain control of their own
×ÖÄ» country that is how will achieve a more sustainable
×ÖÄ» victory and will require us
×ÖÄ» sending a new generation of Americans overseas to
×ÖÄ» fight and die for another decade on foreign soil
×ÖÄ» here's what else we cannot do
×ÖÄ» we cannot turn against one another by letting this
×ÖÄ» fight be defined as a war
×ÖÄ» between America and Islam that too is what
×ÖÄ» groups like I still want it so
×ÖÄ» does not speak for Islam their bugs and killers
×ÖÄ» part of a cult of death and
×ÖÄ» they account for a tiny fraction of a more than a
×ÖÄ» billion Muslims around the world including millions of patriotic
×ÖÄ» muslim-americans who reject
×ÖÄ» their hateful ideology moreover the vast
×ÖÄ» majority of terrorist victims
×ÖÄ» around the world are Muslim if you want to succeed
×ÖÄ» in defeating terrorism we
×ÖÄ» must enlist Muslim communities as some of our
×ÖÄ» strongest allies rather than
×ÖÄ» push them away through suspicion and hate it does
×ÖÄ» not mean denying the fact
×ÖÄ» that an extremist ideology has spread within
×ÖÄ» some Muslim communities
×ÖÄ» as a real problem that Muslims must confront
×ÖÄ» without excuse Muslim leaders
×ÖÄ» here and around the globe have to continue
×ÖÄ» working with us to
×ÖÄ» decisively and unequivocally reject the hateful
×ÖÄ» ideology the groups like I saw an al-qaida promote to speak out
×ÖÄ» against not just acts of violence
×ÖÄ» but also those interpretations of Islam that
×ÖÄ» are incompatible with the
×ÖÄ» values of religious tolerance mutual respect and
×ÖÄ» human dignity but just as
×ÖÄ» it is the responsibility of Muslims around the
×ÖÄ» world to root out misguided
×ÖÄ» ideas that lead to radicalization it is the
×ÖÄ» responsibility of all americans
×ÖÄ» of every faith to reject discrimination it is our
×ÖÄ» responsibility to reject religious
×ÖÄ» tests on who we admit into this country it's
×ÖÄ» our responsibility to reject
×ÖÄ» proposals that Muslim Americans should somehow be
×ÖÄ» treated differently because
×ÖÄ» when we travel down that road we lose a kind of
×ÖÄ» divisiveness that betrayal of
×ÖÄ» our values plays into the hands of groups like I
×ÖÄ» saw muslim-americans are our
×ÖÄ» friends and our neighbors or co-workers our sports
×ÖÄ» heroes and yes they are our
×ÖÄ» men and women in uniform who are willing to die
×ÖÄ» in defense of our country we
×ÖÄ» have to remember that my fellow Americans I am
×ÖÄ» confident we will succeed in
×ÖÄ» this mission because we are on the right side
×ÖÄ» of history we were founded upon
×ÖÄ» a belief in human dignity but no matter who you
×ÖÄ» are or where you come from or
×ÖÄ» what you look like or what religion you practice
×ÖÄ» your equal in the eyes of God
×ÖÄ» and equal in the eyes of the law even in this
×ÖÄ» political season even as
×ÖÄ» we properly debate what steps I and future
×ÖÄ» presidents must take to keep
×ÖÄ» our country safe let's make sure we never forget
×ÖÄ» what makes us exceptional
×ÖÄ» let's not forget that freedom is more powerful
×ÖÄ» than fear that we've always
×ÖÄ» met challenges whether war or depression
×ÖÄ» natural disasters or terrorist
×ÖÄ» attacks by coming together around our common
×ÖÄ» ideals as one nation and one people so long as we stay true
×ÖÄ» to that tradition no doubt that America will prevail
×ÖÄ» thank you god bless you and
×ÖÄ» may God bless the United States of America