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| Right makes might, not other way around: Obama sums up war on terror legacy | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Outgoing US President Barack Obama is giving his final national security speech from the MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Florida, headquarters of the US Central Command. | Outgoing US President Barack Obama is giving his final national security speech from the MacDill Air Force Base near Tampa, Florida, headquarters of the US Central Command. |
| According to the White House, Obama is expected to claim credit for US withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan while acknowledging the challenges of fighting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). He will argue that things are better off today than eight years ago, and that President-elect Donald Trump will inherit a “sustainable” counterterrorism strategy. | According to the White House, Obama is expected to claim credit for US withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan while acknowledging the challenges of fighting Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL). He will argue that things are better off today than eight years ago, and that President-elect Donald Trump will inherit a “sustainable” counterterrorism strategy. |
| On Monday, the White House released a 61-page report describing the extent of counterterrorism operations around the world, based on the October 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) congressional resolution. | On Monday, the White House released a 61-page report describing the extent of counterterrorism operations around the world, based on the October 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) congressional resolution. |
| “We are and must remain the strongest fighting force the world has ever known,” Obama said Tuesday in a speech that thanked the US military as well as intelligence, homeland security and diplomatic officers for keeping the US safe. | |
| The 44th US president outlined his own foreign policy before the rise of Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), saying the “focus on Al-Qaeda, the most dangerous threat to the us at the time, paid dividends,” calling the terrorist group “a shadow of its former self.” | |
| “I don’t want to paint too rosy a picture,” Obama clarified. “The situation in Afghanistan is still tough.” | |
| “War has been a part of life in Afghanistan for over 30 years,” the president added. | |
| Obama dismissed critics who believe the US troop pullout from Iraq in 2011 led directly to the rise of IS. He said keeping US troops there, under a weakened status of forces agreement with the Iraqi government, “could not have reversed the forces” that led to the rise of IS. | |
| Crediting the US-led coalition of 70 countries battling IS, Obama said, "today, the results are clear," claiming that IS has lost more than half its territory and faces a dwindling recruitment effort as local populations turn against the terrorist network and insurgency. | |
| Obama cited military and coalition operations in Libya, Mali, Somalia and Yemen as successes. | |
| "To say that we've made progress is not to say the job is done," Obama said. "In some form, this violent extremism will be with us for years to come." | |
| Challenges noted by Obama included corruption in foreign governments and "a changing climate [which] is increasing competition for food and water," which drew applause. |