The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Obama firmly defends anti-terrorism strategy
President says U.S. can retain its values as it fights jihadists.
TAMPA, FLA. — Closing out two terms as a president at war, Barack Obama on Tuesday staunchly defended his counterterrorism strategy as one that rejected torture, held to American values and avoided large-scale troop deployments.
Obama’s speech at MacDill Air Force Base, home to U.S. Special Operations Command and Central Command, represented an implicit effort to shape the strategy his successor might employ. He delivered a strident argument for his reliance on drone strikes and U.S. commandos rather than ground wars such as those launched in Iraq and Afghanistan by his own predecessor, President George W. Bush.
Obama emphasized the need for the U.S. to uphold its values by respecting the rights of Muslims and trying terror suspects in civilian courts.
“We can get these terrorists and stay true to who we are,” Obama said.
“Rather than offer false promises that we can eliminate terrorism by dropping more bombs, or deploying more and more troops, or by fencing ourselves off from the rest of the world, we have to take a long view of the terrorist threat,” Obama told troops gathered in an airplane hangar. “We have to pursue a smart strategy that can be sustained.”
In describing the nature of the threat after eight years of his leadership, Obama sought to strike a careful balance, arguing at once that “violent extremism will be with us for years to come” and that terrorists “don’t pose an existential threat” to the U.S. He said that unlike previous wars against other nations, it was unlikely this conflict would end with a “clearly defined victory.”
Though White House officials said the speech was planned before Donald Trump was elected, Obama’s remarks were clearly tailored to address some of Trump’s proposals.
In a warning that appeared aimed at Trump, who has called for barring Muslim immigrants temporarily, Obama said the U.S. doesn’t impose religious tests. He forcefully defended his decision to bar the use of torture against detainees while chastising Congress for refusing to let him shutter the Guantanamo Bay detention center, which he called a “blot on our national honor.”
Obama acknowledged he wasn’t entirely successful in what he has described as his push to take the U.S. off its wartime footing. He has been forced to rely on more than 15-year-old law, passed by Congress after 9/11, as the legal underpinning for his campaign against the Islamic State group, but pointed the finger at Congress for failing to update it.
“Democracies should not operate in a state of permanently authorized war,” Obama said.
Trump has said little about how he intends to combat extremist groups, arguing that ambiguity and unpredictability are assets that deny the enemy a chance to plan ahead. Still, all signs suggest he will pursue a more muscular, military-driven approach, including his selection of hawkish aides for his team such as retired Gen. Michael Flynn for national security adviser.
The president-elect has argued that Obama’s decision to withdraw the bulk of troops from Iraq created a power vacuum that allowed the Islamic State to form and seize territory. Obama said that was because Baghdad refused to sign a pact granting legal protections to U.S. troops to stay, though officials have acknowledged that Obama never forcefully pushed for such a deal.