Obama: Al-Qaeda ‘On the Way to Defeat’

Insists US 'Not Terrorized' by Terrorists

While reiterating that al-Qaeda remains a threat “to the homeland,” President Obama insisted today that his military offensives have decimated the group’s leadership and it is “on the way to defeat.”

Obama went on to insist that “those who cowardly attack civilians” don’t understand his position that the US “do not get terrorized” by terrorism and will keep up its current foreign policy in place to prove that Americans “will never retreat from the world.”

The comments come as the US has closed dozens of embassies abroad over fear of terrorist attacks, and has issued a global travel warning for the rest of the month, urging civilians to avoid any travel anywhere on the planet.

He was addressing Camp Pendleton Marines at the time, and it is possible that the broad position of the speech was penned before all of the embassy closures, though Obama did note that the recent days are a “reminder” of the global war on terror.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.