US will defeat terror threat: Obama

In a rare Oval Office address, President Barack Obama vowed Sunday night the United States would overcome a new phase of the terror threat that seeks to “poison the minds” of people here and around the world, as he sought to reassure Americans shaken by recent attacks in Paris and California.

The president’s speech followed Wednesday’s shooting in San Bernardino, California, that killed 14 people and wounded 21. Authorities say a couple carried out the attack and the wife pledged allegiance to Daesh (the self-styled Islamic State) and its leader in a Facebook post.

“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, speaking from a lectern in his West Wing office. “The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it.”

Obama said in his 13-minute address that while there was no evidence the shooters were directed by a terror network overseas or part of a broader plot, “the two of them had gone down the dark path of radicalization.”

In speaking from the Oval Office, Obama turned to a tool of the presidency that he has used infrequently. His decision to speak in prime time reflected the White House’s concern that his message on the recent attacks hasn’t broken through, particularly in the midst of a heated presidential campaign.