US President Barack Obama has wrapped up his final State of the Union address with a forceful statement of confidence in the future of the United States.
“I believe in change because I believe in you,” Obama said in his closing remarks, generating a standing ovation.
“That’s why I stand here as confident as I have ever been that the State of our Union is strong.”
Obama also said the US doesn’t need over-the-top claims about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group to show the US is serious about defeating it.
The president dismissed the idea that ISIL threatens America’s existence, saying that’s the story ISIL wants to tell and the message it uses in propaganda to recruit.
He said references to World War III just play into the group’s hands.
Obama also criticised those who say ISIL represents Islam. He said that’s a lie and rhetoric like that pushed away allies the US needed to win the fight.
He was apparently alluding to Republican politicians who have demanded Obama declare war on “radical Islamic extremists”.
The president said ISIL is made up of killers, fanatics and twisted souls and he repeated his declaration that the US will hunt them down and destroy them.
Obama received about a dozen standing ovations during his address on Tuesday, but just a handful were fully bipartisan.
In addition to the standing ovation that greeted the entry of First Lady Michelle Obama, the other bipartisan applause moments came after his comments on cutting red tape and outdated regulations, when he announced Vice President Joe Biden would lead a cancer “moonshot” initiative and when he lauded the US military as the finest fighting force in the world.
Several more moments won big applause from the Democratic side of the chamber.
US President Barack Obama has wrapped up his final State of the Union address with a forceful statement of confidence in the future of the United States.
“I believe in change because I believe in you,” Obama said in his closing remarks, generating a standing ovation.
“That’s why I stand here as confident as I have ever been that the State of our Union is strong.”
Obama also said the US doesn’t need over-the-top claims about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group to show the US is serious about defeating it.
The president dismissed the idea that ISIL threatens America’s existence, saying that’s the story ISIL wants to tell and the message it uses in propaganda to recruit.
He said references to World War III just play into the group’s hands.
Obama also criticised those who say ISIL represents Islam. He said that’s a lie and rhetoric like that pushed away allies the US needed to win the fight.
He was apparently alluding to Republican politicians who have demanded Obama declare war on “radical Islamic extremists”.
The president said ISIL is made up of killers, fanatics and twisted souls and he repeated his declaration that the US will hunt them down and destroy them.
Obama received about a dozen standing ovations during his address on Tuesday, but just a handful were fully bipartisan.
In addition to the standing ovation that greeted the entry of First Lady Michelle Obama, the other bipartisan applause moments came after his comments on cutting red tape and outdated regulations, when he announced Vice President Joe Biden would lead a cancer “moonshot” initiative and when he lauded the US military as the finest fighting force in the world.
Several more moments won big applause from the Democratic side of the chamber.(Al Jazeera)
Link: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/obama-dismisses-idea-isil-existential-threat-160113033025541.html
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