WASHINGTON (AP) – Update: President Barack Obama says the American Muslim community needs to be a partner in the fight against radical Islam.
Obama says Muslims can send credible, effective counter messages and undermine jihadist propaganda.
Obama’s remarks were part of a prime-time address on the threat of terrorism and the fight against the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. At least one of the suspected shooters in the past week’s massacre in San Bernardino expressed support for the Islamic State online.
Obama is calling the Islamic State “thugs, killers” and a “cult of death.” He says they represent a “tiny fraction” of the Muslim community.
The president says the West is not at war against Islam. He is cautioning Americans not to single out Muslims.
President Barack Obama says the U.S. can and must make it harder for would-be mass shooters to kill by making it harder for them to obtain guns.
Obama is giving an Oval Office address on terrorism and the U.S. response following attacks in California and Paris. He’s calling for Congress to prohibit people suspected of terrorism or on the no-fly list from buying guns.
Obama says he knows some people reject all gun safety measures. But he says no matter how effective law enforcement and intelligence is, they can’t identify every would-be shooter. Obama says it’s a matter of national security to prevent those people from getting guns.
Obama has urged stricter gun laws following the California shootings, but like previous mass shootings, those calls have met resistance from gun control opponents. Gun rights advocates oppose the no-fly list proposal because they say it violates the rights of people who haven’t been convicted of a crime.
Original:
President Barack Obama has scheduled a rare Oval Office address to the nation this evening to talk about last week’s shooting rampage in California and the country’s efforts to combat terrorism.
Administration officials say Obama will urge Americans not to give into fear, without announcing any major changes in policy toward the Islamic State group.
Obama has made televised statements from the Oval Office just twice, the last in 2010.
His speech comes amid criticism that he has underestimated the threat from an extremist group that claimed responsibility for last month’s deadly attacks in Paris.
