Instability will continue in many parts of world, including Pakistan: Obama

WASHINGTON: In his final State of the Union address on Tuesday, President Barack Obama said that instability will continue for decades in many parts of the world?—?in the Middle East, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in parts of Central America, Africa and Asia, according to the White House official website.

“Our foreign policy must be focused on the threat from ISIL and al Qaeda, but it can’t stop there. For even without ISIL, instability will continue for decades in many parts of the world?—?in the Middle East, in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in parts of Central America, Africa and Asia,” Obama declared.

He continued, “Some of these places may become safe havens for new terrorist networks; others will fall victim to ethnic conflict, or famine, feeding the next wave of refugees.”

“The world will look to us to help solve these problems, and our answer needs to be more than tough talk or calls to carpet bomb civilians. That may work as a TV sound bite, but it doesn’t pass muster on the world stage,” he added.

Speaking about the Islamic State group, Obama said the terror group did not pose an existential threat to the United States, warning that such talk only emboldens America’s enemies.

President Obama attempted to reset the tone of the national security debate, which has grown more extreme and fearful as the battle to succeed him heats up.

He called on Congress to help him finally close the war or terror detention center at Guantanamo Bay, which he branded a gift to extremist propagandists seeking to stir anti-American sentiment.

And he declared the US military to be the best funded and best trained fighting force in the history of the world, more than capable of seeing off the terrorist threat.

“But as we focus on destroying ISIL, over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands,” Obama warned a Congress dominated by his Republican opponents.

“Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages pose an enormous danger to civilians and must be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence.”

US forces are leading an international coalition bombing the IS group from the air over their heartland in Iraq and Syria, and training Iraqi ground forces.

Obama has vowed to dispatch special forces to guide Syrian Arab and Kurdish militias closing in on the capital of the Islamic State’s self-declared caliphate in Raqa.

And US intelligence is helping its allies locate and neutralize extremists plotting attacks in Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Afghanistan and European cities.

But Obama has vowed not to follow his predecessor George W Bush in committing thousands of ground troops to open-ended conflict in the Middle East — and Islamic State attacks have continued.

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