President Barack Obama Attends Kennedy Center Honors After Addressing Nation On ISIL And San Bernadino Shootings
In case you missed it, last night President Barack Obama spoke from the Oval Office in a special address delving into the San Bernardino shootings that left 14 dead.
Via People.com reports:
“The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it,” he said. “We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that confronts us.
“We will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless.”
Obama continued by confirming what a source had already previously told PEOPLE on Saturday – that authorities have found no evidence the two shooters in the San Bernardino, California, attack on Dec. 2 were being “directed by an organization overseas,” although they had been radicalized.
The president also laid out his plan to combat ISIS and other terrorist organizations around the world. Obama said that while he has authorized thousands of air strikes during his seven years as president, he wants Congress to vote once and for all on how to properly confront ISIS. However, he did note that he doesn’t think that America should get “drawn into a long and costly ground war.” Obama also noted that he was working with other countries to try end the ongoing war in Syria.
Obama also noted that he didn’t want this to come off as “a war between America and Islam,” which he said would play into ISIS’ plan.
“ISIL does not speak for Islam, they are thugs,” he added.
Do you agree with Obama or have the terror threats made you more distrustful toward Muslims in general? We think it’s essential that the public not become intolerant to peaceful people who are of Islamic faith.
And it seems that Obama is still pushing for gun control/reform:
On the home front, the president said that he wants Congress to act to make it so that no one on a no-fly list is able to buy a gun – a point that was brought up in the wake of the San Bernardino attacks. He also said that Congress should vote to make it “harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons.”
He added that while the government cannot monitor every possible terrorist within the country, “what we can do and must do is make it harder for them to kill.”
What do you think about those measures? Is that really doing enough?
Hit the flip to watch the full speech and see photos from the Kennedy Center Honors event that followed Obama’s speech.
Following his address, Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama headed to the East Room for the 2015 Kennedy Center Honors event honoring Cicely Tyson, George Lucas, Rita Moreno, Carole King and conductor Seiji Ozawa.
APImages
