Washington, Dec. 7: Militant groups like al-Qaeda have been “decimated” in Afghanistan and Pakistan, but terror threats have spread to the Middle East and North Africa, President Barack Obama said, insiting that the US must act, including unilaterally, to dismantle terrorist networks.
“I believe that we must never hesitate to act when necessary, including unilaterally when necessary, against any eminent threats to our people,” Obama said yesterday in a speech on his administration’s approach to counter terrorism, in Tampa, Florida.
“I’ve also insisted that it is unwise and unsustainable to ask our military to build nations on the other side of the world or resolve their internal conflicts, particularly in places where our forces become a magnet for terrorists and insurgents,” he said.
“Instead, it’s been my conviction that even as we focus relentlessly on dismantling terrorist networks like Al-Qaeda and ISIL, we should ask allies to do their share in the fight.
And we should strengthen local partners who can provide lasting security,” he asserted.
Reflecting on his successful counter-terrorism policies, Obama said plots directed from within Afghanistan and Pakistan had been consistently disrupted.
“Its leadership has been decimated. Dozens of terrorist leaders have been killed. Osama bin Laden is dead,” he said.
“And importantly, we build a counter-terrorism capability that can sustain this pressure against any terrorist network in South Asia that might threaten the United States of America. That was because of the work of our outstanding service members,” he added.
Obama said instead of being in the lead against Taliban, Americans are now supporting 320,000 Afghan security forces who are defending their communities and supporting our counter-terrorism efforts.
“I don’t wanna paint too rosy a picture. The situation in Afghanistan is still tough. War has been a part of life in Afghanistan for over 30 years and the United States cannot eliminate the Taliban in that country,” he said.
“But what we can do, is deny Al-Qaeda a safe haven, and what we can do is support Afghans who want a better future,” he said.
Of course the terrorist threat was never restricted to south Asia or to Afghanistan or Pakistan, he said.
“Even as al Qaeda’s been decimated in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the threat from terrorists, metastasised in other parts of the Middle East and North Africa. And most dangerously, we saw the emergence of ISIL, the successor to Al-Qaeda in Iraq, which fights as both a terrorist network and an insurgency,” said the US President.
