Key Points of the President’s Address

¶ … President's Address

The counter-terrorism speech given by president Obama came with a couple of messages. His first address touched on the restrictive policy strikes using drones; of course this was not new or restrictive according to prior experience. His second focus was directed at the need to close down Guantanamo Bay detention center. The latter was also not a new stand taken by the president but it surely opposed a long standing position by the powers that be. Here are the major highlights of President Obama's speech.

Responding to the Threat: Leveraging Effective Partnerships and Targeting Terrorists

Effective response to terrorism needs a lot more than just military response and law enforcement. There is need for a concerted effort to be directed towards winning the war of ideology and the battle of will. The first item should be to complete the task of defeating the Al Qaeda forces.

Standards for Taking Lethal Action

Although we all prefer to prosecute and detain terrorists, there are times when this method is dead at the onset. The Al Qaeda forces tend to retreat to unreachable places of the planet to plan their attacks from there and control the populace and the resources. The United States has opted to apply targeted lethal force in such a scenario. The U.S. forces have also used drones in such resolve.

Oversight and Authorities

We are strong believers of the oversight role that the congress has. Since the president assumed office, the administration has been briefing committees of the house on all strikes carried out outside of Afghanistan and Iraq. We have done this including the cases that involved targeting a citizen of the U.S. named Anwar Awlaki. He was the Chief External Operations officer for the Alqaeda within the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

Going Beyond Force: Assistance and Diplomatic Engagement

We intend to get to the bottom-line of the issues that inform extremism that spans from the Northern parts of Africa to the South of Asia. We must make such effort for both our security needs and our values. If we are to succeed on our mission, we need a concerted engagement and sufficient supply of resources.

Domestic Radicalization

The threat from within is just as bad if not worse. We must guard against terrorism from both outside and the inside. Although the threat from inside in not exactly new, technology and the widespread use of the internet have made it a lot more lethal. Its frequency has also increased.

Closing Guantanamo

The president has made tangible attempts at closing Guantanamo Bay. He transferred 67 detainees to other countries abroad but congress soon imposed sanctions to prevent the transfer of detainees or even imprisoning them inside the U.S. The president, in his speech, asked the Congress to consider lifting the restrictions and establish a site for military commissions. President Obama has also picked on new senior envoys from Defense and state departments to negotiate the possibility of transferring detainees to other countries (The White House, 2013).

Opinion on the Speech

If the president had given his speech before the one by Senator Rand Paul, he could have probably had his way. President Obama could have had an opportunity to convince the world that the most contemptible excesses in the war against terror were coming to an end. He could have possibly had his day with such agencies and organizations as the United Nations human rights advocates and investigators, international and National courts including the Peoples of the United States that his closure of Guantanamo Bay was a feat worth of honor.

Essentially, the president, far from ending the "war on terror," he has continued to support eliminating terror suspects by drones and has even embedded legal controls on how such killings should be run (O'Connell, 2013).

Have the president's points held still against the passage of time and changing circumstances?

The republicans pointed out that the call to end war on terror was coming before its time. This is given credence by the increasing terrorist incidents in Europe. The president's speech regarding limited use of drones might as well be blown by the wind.

Part 2

The president's specific stand on the use of drones in the future and at the moment

The president does not support the move to establish federal courts to supervise drone attacks. He mentioned that the use of the drone attacks strategy was greatly constrained. We do not strike with drones in situations when we can capture the suspects. We have always preferred to capture, interrogate, detain and prosecute, we take these decisions after consulting with our partners and consideration of the sovereignty of states. We do not strike indiscriminately. President Obama is set to discuss his restriction policy on the use of drones against targets that are perceived as consistent threats to the security of the U.S.A. Drone strikes need assurance that no civilians will be injured in the process. The president will disseminate his choice for using drones as opposed to the use of the CIA when necessary and appropriate (Hudson, 2013).

How the discussion came about and whether the memo is out

Shortly after the 9/11 attacks, the AUMF, was passed to allow for carrying out lethal attacks on valid military targets. The killing of Anwar al-Alwaki came soon after the event. The memo that authorized the killing of U.S. citizens involved in terrorist attacks was released in June 2014; even though it had been mutilated in its original content.

Part 3

Do you agree with what he said specifically?

When we need to cut down on our budgets, we are ironically spending $150 million every year on incarcerating 166 persons each year. This comes down to approximately $1 million for each prisoner. As president, I have tried to close Guantanamo Bay but was soon stopped by Congress. I agree with the president's initiative to appoint diplomats to negotiate the transfer of prisoners to other countries. He has shown his commitment despite the setback by Congress; and I agree with him.