Barack Obama didn’t land on an aircraft carrier and declare “mission accomplished”, but in its own way his speech on the future conduct of the War on Terror was just as significant as George W Bush’s premature declaration of victory in 2003 – and, Mr Obama will hope, far more enduring.
Essentially Mr Obama declared the last vestiges of the War on Terror to be ‘over’.
Notwithstanding the murder of the US ambassador to Libya in Benghazi last year, the Boston marathon bombings last month and Wednesday’s horrific ‘lone wolf’ attack on a British soldier in London, Mr Obama would like us to see those attacks in a qualitatively different light.
Quoting James Madison’s observation that “No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare”, Mr Obama asked the American people to re-categorize these attacks not as part of a continuum from 9/11, but as the death throes of an already degraded al-Qaeda.
“We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us,” warned Mr Obama who – putting his money where his mouth is – said he will talk to Congress about amending Authorisation to Use Military Force granted immediately after 9/11.
Implicit in all this is Mr Obama’s case that the war in Afghanistan - and the subsequent drone campaign he has overseen - has degraded the al-Qaeda threat to the point where it was in the 1980s and early 1990s where there were terrorist incidents, but of a manageable magnitude.
Essentially Mr Obama declared the last vestiges of the War on Terror to be ‘over’ Photo: AFP
9:44PM BST 23 May 2013
Essentially Mr Obama declared the last vestiges of the War on Terror to be ‘over’.
Notwithstanding the murder of the US ambassador to Libya in Benghazi last year, the Boston marathon bombings last month and Wednesday’s horrific ‘lone wolf’ attack on a British soldier in London, Mr Obama would like us to see those attacks in a qualitatively different light.
Quoting James Madison’s observation that “No nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare”, Mr Obama asked the American people to re-categorize these attacks not as part of a continuum from 9/11, but as the death throes of an already degraded al-Qaeda.
“We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us,” warned Mr Obama who – putting his money where his mouth is – said he will talk to Congress about amending Authorisation to Use Military Force granted immediately after 9/11.
Implicit in all this is Mr Obama’s case that the war in Afghanistan - and the subsequent drone campaign he has overseen - has degraded the al-Qaeda threat to the point where it was in the 1980s and early 1990s where there were terrorist incidents, but of a manageable magnitude.
Bee's note:
See: Yemen welcomes U.S. decision on Guantanamo prisoner transfers, http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/world/2013/05/24/Yemen-welcomes-U-S-decision-on-Guantanamo-prisoner-transfers.html
Once the Gitmo prisoners are released and sent home to Yemen, I can bet my hat that America will not have heard the last of these Islamic terrorists. For the president of the "free" world to announce to the world that the War on Terror is over, is not only foolish, but quite dangerous. I am sure our Ambassador and Navy Seals did not think the War on Terror was "over" last September 11th and most of us here today would agree - .......
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