With pictures of his family clearly visible behind him, President Barack Obama addressed a nation on edge Sunday evening regarding the San Bernardino terrorist attacks last Wednesday that left 14 dead and 17 injured. Obama discussed domestic and foreign plans to destroy ISIL, also known as the Islamic State group or ISIS. Here are some takeaways from the address.
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No real changes in terms of ground action
The plans that the President laid out were not new policies, having announced much of these plans — to continue supplying Iraqi forces with the resources to fight ISIL, to continue air strikes and other military actions — earlier this fall. Likely, Obama hoped by announcing these in a formal address to put some citizens at ease and to buy his government some time to more concretely address the threat. -
Gun control
A large portion of the address centered on gun control, with his largest talking point being restricting people on the no-fly list from buying guns or assault weapons. Obama has been toting stricter gun control for a while, dating back to shootings that weren’t deemed terrorism-related, but the latest attack has spurred some questions from a lot of Americans regarding who is allowed to buy these weapons. Republicans have long opposed most forms of gun control, but nonetheless, Obama urged his Republican Congress to reconsider in wake of the latest tragedy. -
No discrimination against Islam, but rather against ISIL
Obama took a good chunk of his address to remind and plead with American citizens that Muslim Americans are not the enemy, but rather radical Islamists involved with these terroristic organizations are. He said by turning against American Muslims, Americans are playing into the hands of ISIL, who seek discrimination and discord to use as platforms of their campaign. Following the attack, many Muslim organizations spoke to this as well, and Obama emphasized the message again during his address.