US president backs existing collaborative strategy to battle Islamic State in Iraq and Syria in rare national address from Oval Office

Barack Obama called for cool heads in the fight against terrorism on Sunday in a live address that resisted pressure for more military intervention but nonetheless sought to reassure a rattled American public following last week’s deadly shooting in San Bernardino.

Declaring the attack was carried out by those who had “gone down the dark path of radicalisation”, the US president launched a passionate defence of his existing strategy for tackling Islamic extremism rather than announcing the major new policy response that many critics were hoping for.

“Our success won’t depend on tough talk, or abandoning our values or giving into fear,” said the president. “That’s what groups like [Islamic State] are hoping for. Instead, we will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless.”



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In particular, the US commander-in-chief ruled out any step-change in ground engagement against Isis, also known as Isil, insisting this would only further the risks of inciting homegrown terrorists like those who killed 14 in San Bernardino.

He insisted the current mix of airstrikes, support for local allies, diplomacy and a steadily increasing use of US special forces was the best way to defeat the threat in Iraq and Syria in a way that did not further radicalise Muslims living in the west.



“We should not be drawn once more into a long and costly ground war in Iraq or Syria. That’s what groups like Isil want,” added Obama. “They know they can’t defeat us on the battlefield. Isil fighters were part of the insurgency that we faced in Iraq. But they also know that if we occupy foreign lands, they can maintain insurgencies for years, killing thousands of our troops and draining our resources, and using our presence to draw new recruits.”



The White House has been under mounting pressure to toughen its response to San Bernardino after initial comments compared it solely to other domestic mass shooting incidents and focused on calls for more gun control, but were overtaken by news of growing terrorist links.

Republican critics claim Obama has been slow to recognise the terrorist nature of similar shootings in Fort Hood and Chattanooga – events he acknowledged on Sunday represented a “new phase” in the terrorist threat.



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“We have no evidence that the [San Bernardino] killers were directed by a terrorist organization overseas or that they were part of a broader conspiracy here at home,” said Obama in an update on the FBI investigation in California. “But it is clear that the two of them had gone down the dark path of radicalization, embracing a perverted interpretation of Islam that calls for war against America and the west.”



“As groups like Isil grew stronger amidst the chaos of war in Iraq and then Syria, and as the internet erases the distance between countries, we see growing efforts by terrorists to poison the minds of people like the Boston Marathon bombers and the San Bernardino killers,” added the president in his strongest link yet between Middle East terrorism and a spate of recent domestic attacks.

Yet Obama stood his ground on the domestic gun control issue, insisting that proposals for Congress to ban weapons purchases by terrorist suspects named on a US “no-fly” list were “a matter of national security”.



“We also need to make it harder for people to buy powerful assault weapons, like the ones that were used in San Bernardino,” he added. “I know there are some who reject any gun-safety measures, but the fact is that our intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, no matter how effective they are, cannot identify every would-be mass shooter, whether that individual was motivated by Isil or some other hateful ideology.”



He also announced a new review of visa-waiver rules to “put in place stronger screening for those who come to America without a visa so that we can take a hard look at whether they’ve traveled to war zones”.



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The Oval office address was met with disdain by many leading Republicans including presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Jeb Bush who led criticism of its lack of new policy.



“President Obama has finally been forced to abandon the political fantasy he has perpetuated for years that the threat of terrorism was receding,” said Bush. “We need to remove the self-imposed constraints President Obama has placed on our intelligence community and military, and we need to put in place an aggressive strategy to defeat ISIS and radical Islamic terrorism.”



Nevertheless, Obama took a veiled swipe at his political opponents with a particular focus on the alleged Islamophobia and the anti-refugee backlash seen among some candidates such Donald Trump.



“If we’re to succeed in defeating terrorism, we must enlist Muslim communities as some of our strongest allies, rather than push them away through suspicion and hate,” Obama said.



“Let’s not forget that freedom is more powerful than fear,” added Obama. “That we have always met challenges, whether war or depression, natural disasters or terrorist attacks, by coming together around our common ideals as one nation and one people.”



Leading Democrats largely welcomed the cautious response, though noted that recent attacks “demonstrate the urgency of defeating Isis and depriving it of the time, resources and space in Iraq, Syria and anywhere else to plot and plan against us”.



“Ultimately, Isis must be defeated on the ideological battlefield as well as militarily,” added Adam Schiff of the House permanent select committee on intelligence. “And in this facet of the struggle – as the president pointed out – the Muslim community at home and abroad must be our chief ally.”



The short speech was only the third time in the seven years of his presidency Obama has used the Oval office for a prime-time address to the nation in a format usually reserved for the most solemn national occasions.



The Obamas postponed a planned trip to a concert at the Kennedy Center that had been planned later on Sunday, carrying out a portion of an associated ceremony at the White House instead and traveling later to the concert.



Appearing at a social event like this without first acknowledging the growing clamor for a considered response to San Bernardino would have presented difficult optics for the White House. Obama is said to have worked on the speech all weekend.



“I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure,” he said.



“I am confident we will succeed in this mission because we are on the right side of history,” concluded Obama.



“Even in this political season, even as we properly debate what steps I and future presidents must take to keep our country safe. Let’s make sure we never forget what makes us exceptional. Let’s not forget that freedom is more powerful than fear.”