Barack Obama said the US has to do a better job disrupting terror networks.
WASHINGTON: The ISIS will probably continue to be a threat to the US even after it is ousted from key strongholds in Iraq and Syria, President Barack Obama said Thursday, warning that lone-wolf believers will still be inspired to launch attacks that are harder to detect and prevent.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with his top national security advisers in the Pentagon, Obama said the US has to do a better job disrupting terror networks and intercepting the internet messages that can get to troubled individuals and inspire them to act.
“What ISIS has figured out is that if they can convince a handful of people or even one person to carry out an attack on a subway, or at a parade or some other public venue, and kill scores of people as opposed to thousands of people, it still creates the kinds of fear and concern that elevates their profile,” Obama said.
He said terrorism likely won’t be eliminated by his administration or his successors, and he’s always pushing his team to seek out new ideas to battle the problem.
“I haven’t gotten numb to it. It bugs me whenever it happens,” he said. But, he added, “I do think that because of our extraordinary efforts the homeland is significantly safer than it otherwise would be.”
The ISIS has claimed responsibility for a number of recent mass killings, including the Bastille Day attack in Nice, France, last month that left more than 80 dead, and the Orlando nightclub shootings that killed 49. While they may not have been directed by the group, the attackers were reportedly inspired by ISIS.
Obama has beefed up the US military fight against the ISIS in Iraq and Syria, recently authorizing more troops to help Iraqi forces prepare to take back the northern city of Mosul, which has been under ISIS control since 2014. And this week the US expanded its campaign against the group with a new front of airstrikes in Libya, to help the fledgling government there take back the city of Sirte.
The group, however, still maintains strongholds in the region, and the fight in Syria has bogged down.
Source From : ndtv.com
