President Barack Obama recently addressed the American people following the terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, which left 14 people dead and some 21 injured.
"This was an act of terrorism," said President Obama, "designed to kill innocent people."
The United States has been at war with terrorism since al-Qaida killed nearly 3,000 Americans on 9/11. But over the years the terrorist threat has evolved into a new phase. Terrorists have turned to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that have occurred all over the world in recent weeks.
The United States has a plan to overcome this evolving threat said President Obama: "We will destroy ISIL and any other organization that tries to harm us. Our success won’t depend on tough talk, or abandoning our values, or giving into fear. That’s what groups like ISIL are hoping for. Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless, and by drawing upon every aspect of American power."
Specifically, the U.S. military will continue to hunt down terrorist plotters in any country where it is necessary. In Iraq and Syria, airstrikes are taking out ISIL leaders, heavy weapons, oil tankers, and infrastructure.
The U.S. continues to train and equip tens of thousands of Iraqi and Syrian forces fighting ISIL on the ground in order to take away their safe havens.
U.S. intelligence is working to disrupt ISIL's plots, cut off their financing, and prevent them from recruiting fighters.
With American leadership, the international community had begun to establish a timeline to pursue ceasefires and a political resolution to the Syrian war.
This strategy to destroy ISIL is supported by U.S. military commanders and counterterrorism experts, together with 65 countries that have joined an American-led coalition.
"We will succeed in this mission," said President Obama.Americans "have always met challenges — whether war or depression, natural disasters or terrorist attacks — by coming together around our common ideals as one nation, as one people. So long as we stay true to that tradition, I have no doubt America will prevail."
