By Washington Post Staff, Published:
May 23
President Obama delivered remarks on
national security on May 23, 2013, at National Defense University in
Washington, D.C. Here is the full text of his speech:
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: Good afternoon, everybody. Please be seated.
It
is a great honor to return to the National Defense University. Here at Fort
McNair, Americans have served in uniform since 1791, standing guard in the
earliest days of the republic and contemplating the future of warfare here in
the 21st century.
For
over two centuries, the United States has been bound together by founding
documents that defined who we are as Americans and served as our compass
through every type of change.
Matters
of war and peace are no different. Americans are deeply ambivalent about war,
but having fought for our independence, we know a price must be paid for
freedom. From the Civil War to our struggle against fascism, on through the
long twilight struggle of the Cold War, battlefields have changed, and
technology has evolved, but our commitment to constitutional principles has
weathered every war, and every war has come to an end.
And
with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, a new dawn of democracy took hold abroad
and a decade of peace and prosperity arrived here at home.
And
for a moment it seemed the 21st century would be a tranquil time. And then on
September 11th, 2001, we were shaken out of complacency. Thousands were taken
from us as clouds of fire and metal and ash descended upon a sun-filled
morning.
This
was a different kind of war. No armies came to our shores, and our military was
not the principal target. Instead, a group of terrorists came to kill as many
civilians as they could.
And
so our nation went to war. We have now been at war for well over a decade. I
won’t review the full history. What is clear is that we quickly drove al-Qaida
out of Afghanistan, but then shifted our focus and began a new war in Iraq. And
this carried significant consequences for our fight against al-Qaida, our
standing in the world and, to this day, our interests in a vital region.
Meanwhile,
we strengthened our defenses, hardening targets, tightening transportation
security, giving law enforcement new tools to prevent terror. Most of these
changes were sound. Some caused inconvenience. But some, like expanded
surveillance, raised difficult questions about the balance that we strike
between our interests in security and our values of privacy. And in some cases,
I believe we compromised our basic values -- by using torture to interrogate
our enemies, and detaining individuals in a way that ran counter to the rule of
law.
So
after I took office, we stepped up the war against al-Qaida, but we also sought
to change its course.
We
relentlessly targeted al-Qaida’s leadership. We ended the war in Iraq and
brought nearly 150,000 troops home. We pursued a new strategy in Afghanistan
and increased our training of Afghan forces. We unequivocally banned torture,
affirmed our commitment to civilian courts, worked to align our policies with
the rule of law and expanded our consultations with Congress.
Today
Osama bin Laden is dead, and so are most of his top lieutenants. There have
been no large-scale attacks on the United States, and our homeland is more secure.
Fewer of our troops are in harm’s way, and over the next 19 months they will
continue to come home. Our alliances are strong, and so is our standing in the
world. In sum, we are safer because of our efforts.
Now
make no mistake: Our nation is still threatened by terrorists. From Benghazi to
Boston, we have been tragically reminded of that truth. But we recognize that
the threat has shifted and evolved from the one that came to our shores on
9/11. With a decade of experience to draw from, this is the moment to ask
ourselves hard questions about the nature of today’s threats and how we should
confront them.
And
these questions matter to every American. For over the last decade, our nation
has spent well over a trillion dollars on war, helping to explode our deficits
and constraining our ability to nation-build here at home. Our service members
and their families have sacrificed far more on our behalf.
Nearly
7,000 Americans have made the ultimate sacrifice. Many more have left a part of
themselves on the battlefield or brought the shadows of battle back home. From
our use of drones to the detention of terrorist suspects, the decisions we are
making will define the type of nation and world that we leave to our children.
So
America is at a crossroads. We must define the nature and scope of this
struggle, or else it will define us. We have to be mindful of James Madison’s
warning that no nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual
warfare. Neither I nor any president can promise the total defeat of terror. We
will never erase the evil that lies in the hearts of some human beings nor
stamp out every danger to our open society. But what we can do, what we must
do, is dismantle networks that pose a direct danger to us and make it less
likely for new groups to gain a foothold, all the while maintaining the
freedoms and ideals that we defend. And to define that strategy, we must make
decisions based not on fear but on hard- earned wisdom. And that begins with
understanding the current threat that we face.
Today
the core of al Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan is on the path to defeat.
Their remaining operatives spend more time thinking about their own safety than
plotting against us.
They
did not direct the attacks in Benghazi or Boston. They’ve not carried out a
successful attack on our homeland since 9/11.
Instead
what we’ve seen is the emergence of various al-Qaida affiliates. From Yemen to
Iraq, from Somalia to North Africa, the threat today is more diffuse, with
al-Qaida’s affiliates in the Arabian Peninsula, AQAP, the most active in
plotting against our homeland. And while none of AQAP’s efforts approach the
scale of 9/11, they have continued to plot acts of terror, like the attempt to
blow up an airplane on Christmas Day in 2009.
Unrest
in the Arab world has also allowed extremists to gain a foothold in countries
like Libya and Syria. But here too there are differences from 9/11. In some
cases, we continue to confront state- sponsored networks like Hezbollah that
engage in acts of terror to achieve political goals. Other of these groups are
simply collections of local militias or extremists interested in seizing
territory. And while we are vigilant for signs that these groups may pose a
transnational threat, most are focused on operating in the countries and
regions where they are based. And that means we’ll face more localized threats
like what we saw in Benghazi, or the BP oil facility in Algeria, in which local
operatives -- perhaps in loose affiliation with regional networks -- launch
periodic attacks against Western diplomats, companies and other soft targets,
or resort to kidnapping and other criminal enterprises to fund their
operations.
And
finally, we face a real threat from radicalized individuals here in the United
States.
Whether
it’s a shooter at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, a plane flying into a building in
Texas, or the extremists who killed 168 people at the Federal Building in
Oklahoma City, America’s confronted many forms of violent extremism in our
history. Deranged or alienated individuals, often U.S. citizens or legal
residents, can do enormous damage, particularly when inspired by larger notions
of violent jihad. And that pull towards extremism appears to have led to the
shooting at Fort Hood and the bombing of the Boston Marathon.
So
that’s the current threat. Lethal, yet less capable, al-Qaida affiliates,
threats to diplomatic facilities and businesses abroad, homegrown extremists.
This is the future of terrorism. We have to take these threats seriously and do
all that we can to confront them. But as we shape our response, we have to
recognize that the scale of this threat closely resembles the types of attacks
we faced before 9/11.
In
the 1980s, we lost Americans to terrorism at our embassy in Beirut, at our
Marine barracks in Lebanon, on a cruise ship at sea, at a disco in Berlin, and
on a Pan Am flight, Flight 103, over Lockerbie. In the 1990s, we lost Americans
to terrorism at the World Trade Center, at our military facilities in Saudi
Arabia, and at our embassy in Kenya.
These
attacks were all brutal. They were all deadly. And we learned that, left
unchecked, these threats can grow. But if dealt with smartly and
proportionally, these threats need not rise to the level that we saw on the eve
of 9/11.
Moreover,
we have to recognize that these threats don’t arise in a vacuum. Most, though
not all, of the terrorism we face is fueled by a common ideology, a belief by
some extremists that Islam is in conflict with the United States and the West
and that violence against Western targets, including civilians, is justified in
pursuit of a larger cause. Of course, this ideology is based on a lie, for the
United States is not at war with Islam. And this ideology is rejected by the
vast majority of Muslims -- who are the most frequent victims of terrorist
attacks. Nevertheless, this ideology persists.
And
in an age when ideas and images can travel the globe in an instant, our
response to terrorism can’t depend on military or law enforcement alone. We
need all elements of national power to win a battle of wills, a battle of
ideas.
So
what I want to discuss here today is the components of such a comprehensive
counterterrorism strategy. First, we must finish the work of defeating al-Qaida
and its associated forces. In Afghanistan, we will complete our transition to
Afghan responsibility for that country’s security. Our troops will come home.
Our combat mission will come to an end. And we will work with the Afghan
government to train security forces, and sustain a counterterrorism force which
ensures that al-Qaida can never again establish a safe haven to launch attacks
against us or our allies.
Beyond
Afghanistan, we must define our effort not as a boundless global war on terror
but rather as a series of persistent, targeted efforts to dismantle specific
networks of violent extremists that threaten America. In many cases, this will
involve partnerships with other countries. Already thousands of Pakistani
soldiers have lost their lives fighting extremists. In Yemen, we are supporting
security forces that have reclaimed territory from AQAP. In Somalia, we helped
a coalition of African nations push al-Shabab out of its strongholds. In Mali,
we’re providing military aid to French-led intervention to push back al-Qaida
in the Maghreb and help the people of Mali reclaim their future.
Much
of our best counterterrorism cooperation results in the gathering and sharing
of intelligence, the arrest and prosecution of terrorists. That’s how a Somali
terrorist apprehended off the coast of Yemen is now in prison in New York.
That;s how we worked with European allies to disrupt plots from Denmark to
Germany to the United Kingdom. That’s how intelligence collected with Saudi
Arabia helped us stop a cargo plane from being blown up over the Atlantic. These
partnerships work.
But
despite our strong preference for the detention and prosecution of terrorists,
sometimes this approach is foreclosed. Al- Qaida and its affiliates try to gain
a foothold in some of the most distant and unforgiving places on Earth.
They
take refuge in remote tribal regions. They hide in caves and walled compounds.
They train in empty deserts and rugged mountains.
In
some of these places, such as parts of Somalia and Yemen, the state has only
the most tenuous reach into the territory. In other cases, the state lacks the
capacity or will to take action.
And
it’s also not possible for America to simply deploy a team of special forces to
capture every terrorist. Even when such an approach may be possible, there are
places where it would pose profound risks to our troops and local civilians,
where a terrorist compound cannot be breached without triggering a firefight --
with surrounding tribal communities, for example, that pose no threat to us --
times when putting U.S. boots on the ground may trigger a major international
crisis.
To
put it another way, our operation in Pakistan against Osama bin Laden cannot be
the norm. The risks in that case were immense. The likelihood of capture,
although that was our preference, was remote, given the certainty that our
folks would confront resistance. The fact that we did not find ourselves
confronted with civilian casualties or embroiled in a extended firefight was a
testament to the meticulous planning and professionalism of our special forces,
but it also depended on some luck. And it was supported by massive
infrastructure in Afghanistan.
And
even then, the cost to our relationship with Pakistan and the backlash among
the Pakistani public over encroachment on their territory was so severe that we
are just now beginning to rebuild this important partnership.
So
it is in this context that the United States has taken lethal, targeted action
against al-Qaida and its associated forces, including with remotely piloted
aircraft commonly referred to as drones. As was true in previous armed
conflicts, this new technology raises profound questions about who is targeted
and why, about civilian casualties and the risk of creating new enemies, about
the legality of such strikes under U.S. and international law, about
accountability and morality.
So
let me address these questions. To begin with, our actions are effective. Don’t
take my word for it. In the intelligence gathered at bin Laden’s compound, we
found that he wrote, we could lose the reserves to enemies’ airstrikes; we
cannot fight airstrikes with explosives. Other communications from al-Qaida
operatives confirm this as well. Dozens of highly skilled al-Qaida commanders,
trainers, bomb makers and operatives have been taken off the battlefield. Plots
have been disrupted that would have targeted international aviation, U.S.
transit systems, European cities and our troops in Afghanistan. Simply put,
these strikes have saved lives.
Moreover,
America’s actions are legal. We were attacked on 9/11. Within a week, Congress
overwhelmingly authorized the use of force. Under domestic law and
international law, the United States is at war with al-Qaida, the Taliban, and
their associated forces. We are at war with an organization that right now
would kill as many Americans as they could if we did not stop them first. So
this is a just war, a war waged proportionally, in last resort and in
self-defense.
And
yet as our fight enters a new phase, America’s legitimate claim of self-defense
cannot be the end of the discussion. To say a military tactic is legal, or even
effective, is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance, for the same
progress that gives us the technology to strike half a world away also demands
the discipline to constrain that power, or risk abusing it.
And
that’s why, over the last four years, my administration has worked vigorously
to establish a framework that governs our use of force against terrorists --
insisting upon clear guidelines, oversight and accountability that is now
codified in presidential policy guidance that I signed yesterday.
In
the Afghan war theater we must, and will continue to, support our troops until
the transition is complete at the end of 2014. And that means we will continue
to take strikes against high-value al- Qaida targets, but also against forces
that are massing to support attacks on coalition forces.
But
by the end of 2014 we will no longer have the same need for force protection,
and the progress we have made against core al-Qaida will reduce the need for
unmanned strikes.
Beyond
the Afghan theater, we only target al-Qaida and its associated forces, and even
then the use of drones is heavily constrained. America does not take strikes
when we have the ability to capture individual terrorists. Our preference is
always to detain, interrogate and prosecute them. America cannot take strikes
wherever we choose. Our actions are bound by consultations with partners and
respect for state sovereignty. America does not take strikes to punish
individuals. We act against terrorists who pose a continuing and imminent
threat to the American people and when there are no other governments capable
of effectively addressing the threat. And before any strike is taken, there
must be near certainty that no civilians will be killed or injured, the highest
standard we can set.
And
for the families of those civilians, no words or legal construct can justify
their loss. For me and those in my chain of command, those deaths will haunt us
as long as we live, just as we are haunted by the civilian casualties that have
occurred throughout conventional fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq.
But
as commander in chief, I must weigh these heartbreaking tragedies against the
alternatives. To do nothing in the face of terrorist networks would invite far
more civilian casualties, not just in our cities at home and our facilities
abroad, but also in the very places, like Sanaa and Kabul and Mogadishu, where
terrorists seek a foothold.
Remember
that the terrorists we are after target civilians, and the death toll from
their acts of terrorism against Muslims dwarfs any estimate of civilian
casualties from drone strikes.
So
doing nothing’s not an option.
Where
foreign governments cannot or will not effectively stop terrorism in their
territory, the primary alternative to targeted lethal action would be the use
of conventional military options. As I’ve already said, even small special
operations carry enormous risks. Conventional airpower or missiles are far less
precise than drones and are likely to cause more civilian casualties and more
local outrage. And invasions of these territories lead us to be viewed as
occupying armies, unleash a torrent of unintended consequences, are difficult
to contain, result in large numbers of civilian casualties and ultimately
empower those who thrive on violent conflict.
So
it is false to assert that putting boots on the ground is less likely to result
in civilian deaths, or less likely to create enemies in the Muslim world. The
results would be more U.S. deaths, more Blackhawks down, more confrontations
with local populations, and an inevitable mission creep in support of such
raids that could easily escalate into new wars.
Yes,
the conflict with al-Qaida, like all armed conflict, invites tragedy. But by
narrowly targeting our action against those who want to kill us, and not the
people they hide among, we are choosing the course of action least likely to
result in the loss of innocent life.
Our
efforts must also be measured against the history of putting American troops in
distant lands among hostile populations. In Vietnam, hundreds of thousands of
civilians died in a war where the boundaries of battle were blurred. In Iraq
and Afghanistan, despite the extraordinary courage and discipline of our
troops, thousands of civilians have been killed. So neither conventional military
action, nor waiting for attacks to occur, offers moral safe harbor, and neither
does a sole reliance on law enforcement in territories that have no functioning
police or security services and, indeed, have no functioning law.
Now,
this is not to say that the risks are not real. Any U.S. military action in
foreign lands risks creating more enemies and impacts public opinion overseas.
Moreover, our laws constrain the power of the president, even during wartime,
and I’ve taken an oath to defend the Constitution of the United States. The
very precision of drones strikes and the necessary secrecy often involved in
such actions can end up shielding our government from the public scrutiny that
a troop deployment invites. It can also lead a president and his team to view
drone strikes as a cure-all for terrorism.
And
for this reason, I’ve insisted on strong oversight of all lethal action. After
I took office, my administration began briefing all strikes outside of Iraq and
Afghanistan to the appropriate committees of Congress. Let me repeat that: Not
only did Congress authorize the use of force, it is briefed on every strike
that America takes, every strike. That includes the one instance when we
targeted an American citizen: Anwar Awlaki, the chief of external operations
for AQAP.
Now,
this week I authorized the declassification of this action and the deaths of
three other Americans in drone strikes to facilitate transparency and debate on
this issue and to dismiss some of the more outlandish claims that have been
made.
For
the record, I do not believe it would be constitutional for the government to
target and kill any U.S. citizen -- with a drone or with a shotgun -- without
due process. Nor should any president deploy armed drones over U.S. soil.
But
when a U.S. citizen goes abroad to wage war against America and is actively
plotting to kill U.S. citizens, and when neither the United States nor our
partners are in a position to capture him before he carries out a plot, his
citizenship should no more serve as a shield than a sniper shooting down on an
innocent crowd should be protected from a swat team.
That’s
who Anwar Awlaki was. He was continuously trying to kill people. He helped
oversee the 2010 plot to detonate explosive devices on two U.S.-bound cargo
planes. He was involved in planning to blow up an airliner in 2009. When Farouk
Abdulmutallab, the Christmas Day bomber, went to Yemen in 2009, Awlaki hosted
him, approved his suicide operation, helped him tape a martyrdom video to be
shown after the attack, and his last instructions were to blow up the airplane
when it was over American soil.
I
would have detained and prosecuted Awlaki if we captured him before he carried
out a plot. But we couldn’t. And as president, I would have been derelict in my
duty had I not authorized the strike that took him out.
Of
course, the targeting of any American raises constitutional issues that are not
present in other strikes, which is why my administration submitted information
about Awlaki to the Department of Justice months before Awlaki was killed and
briefed the Congress before this strike as well.
But
the high threshold that we’ve set for taking lethal action applies to all
potential terrorist targets, regardless of whether or not they are American
citizens. This threshold respects the inherent dignity of every human life.
Alongside
the decision to put our men and women in uniform in harm’s way, the decision to
use force against individuals or groups, even against a sworn enemy of the
United States, is the hardest thing I do as president. But these decisions must
be made, given my responsibility to protect the American people.
Now,
going forward, I’ve asked my administration to review proposals to extend
oversight of lethal actions outside of war zones that go beyond our reporting
to Congress.
Each
option has virtues in theory but poses difficulties in practice. For example,
the establishment of a special court to evaluate and authorize lethal action
has the benefit of bringing a third branch of government into the process but
raises serious constitutional issues about presidential and judicial authority.
Another
idea that’s been suggested, the establishment of an independent oversight board
in the executive branch, avoids those problems but may introduce a layer of
bureaucracy into national security decision-making without inspiring additional
public confidence in the process.
But
despite these challenges, I look forward to actively engaging Congress to
explore these and other options for increased oversight.
I
believe, however, that the use of force must be seen as part of a larger
discussion we need to have about a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy,
because for all the focus on the use of force, force alone cannot make us safe.
We cannot use force everywhere that a radical ideology takes root. And in the
absence of a strategy that reduces the wellspring of extremism, a perpetual war
through drones or special forces or troop deployments will prove self-
defeating and alter our country in troubling ways.
So
the next element of our strategy involves addressing the underlying grievances
and conflicts that feed extremism, from North Africa to South Asia. As we’ve
learned this past decade, this is a vast and complex undertaking. We must be
humble in our expectation that we can quickly resolve deep-rooted problems like
poverty and sectarian hatred. And moreover, no two countries are alike, and
some will undergo chaotic change before things get better. But our security and
our values demand that we make the effort.
This
means patiently supporting transitions to democracy in places like Egypt and
Tunisia and Libya, because the peaceful realization of individual aspirations
will serve as a rebuke to violent extremism. We must strengthen the opposition
in Syria, while isolating extremist elements, because the end of a tyrant must
not give way to the tyranny of terrorism.
We
are actively working to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians because
it is right and because such a peace could help reshape attitudes in the
region. And we must help countries modernize economies, upgrade education and
encourage entrepreneurship because American leadership has always been elevated
by our ability to connect with peoples’ hopes and not simply their fears.
Success
on all these fronts requires sustained engagement, but it will also require
resources. I know that foreign aid is one of the least popular expenditures
that there is -- that’s true for Democrats and Republicans; I’ve seen the
polling -- even though it amounts to less than 1 percent of the federal budget.
In fact, a lot of folks think it’s 25 percent if you ask people on the streets.
Less than 1 percent; still, wildly unpopular.
But
foreign assistance cannot be viewed as charity. It is fundamental to our
national security, and it’s fundamental to any sensible long-term strategy to
battle extremism. Moreover, foreign assistance is a tiny fraction of what we
spend fighting wars that our assistance might ultimately prevent. For what we
spent in a month in Iraq at the height of the war, we could be training
security forces in Libya, maintaining peace agreements between Israel and its
neighbors, feeding the hungry in Yemen, building schools in Pakistan and
creating reservoirs of good will that marginalize extremists.
That
has to be part of our strategy.
Moreover,
America cannot carry out this work if we don’t have diplomats serving in some
very dangerous places. Over the past decade, we have strengthened security at
our embassies, and I am implementing every recommendation of the Accountability
Review Board, which found unacceptable failures in Benghazi. I’ve called on
Congress to fully fund these efforts to bolster security and harden facilities,
improve intelligence and facilitate a quicker response time from our military
if a crisis emerges.
But
even after we take these steps, some irreducible risks to our diplomats will
remain. This is the price of being the world’s most powerful nation,
particularly as a wave of change washes over the Arab world. And in balancing
the trade-offs between security and active diplomacy, I firmly believe that any
retreat from challenging regions will only increase the dangers we face in the
long run. And that’s why we should be grateful to those diplomats who are
willing to serve there.
Targeted
action against terrorists, effective partnerships, diplomatic engagement and
assistance -- through such a comprehensive strategy, we can significantly
reduce the chances of large-scale attacks on the homeland and mitigate threats
to Americans overseas. But as we guard against dangers from abroad, we cannot
neglect the daunting challenge of terrorism from within our borders.
As
I said earlier, this threat is not new. But technology and the Internet
increase its frequency, and in some cases its lethality.
Today
a person can consume hateful propaganda, commit themselves to a violent agenda
and learn how to kill without leaving their home. To address this threat, two
years ago my administration did a comprehensive review and engaged with law
enforcement. And the best way to prevent violent extremism inspired by violent
jihadists is to work with the Muslim American community, which has consistently
rejected terrorism, to identify signs of radicalization, and partner with law
enforcement when an individual is drifting towards violence.
And
these partnerships can only work when we recognize that Muslims are a
fundamental part of the American family. In fact, the success of American
Muslims, and our determination to guard against any encroachments on their
civil liberties, is the ultimate rebuke to those who say that we’re at war with
Islam.
Now,
thwarting homegrown plots presents particular challenges in part because of our
proud commitment to civil liberties for all who call America home. That’s why
in the years to come, we will have to keep working hard to strike the
appropriate balance between our need for security and preserving those freedoms
that make us who we are. That means reviewing the authorities of law
enforcement so we can intercept new types of communication, but also build in
privacy protections to prevent abuse.
That
means that even after Boston, we do not deport someone or throw somebody in
prison in the absence of evidence. That means putting careful constraints on
the tools the government uses to protect sensitive information, such as the
state secrets doctrine. And that means finally having a strong privacy and
civil liberties board to review those issues where our counterterrorism efforts
and our values may come into tension.
You
know, the Justice Department’s investigation of national security leaks offers
a recent example of the challenges involved in striking the right balance
between our security and our open society. As commander in chief, I believe we
must keep information secret that protects our operations and our people in the
field. To do so, we must enforce consequences for those who break the law and
breach their commitment to protect classified information. But a free press is
also essential for our democracy. That’s who we are. And I’m troubled by the
possibility that leak investigations may chill the investigative journalism
that holds government accountable.
Journalists
should not be at legal risk for doing their jobs. Our focus must be on those
who break the law. That’s why I have called on Congress to pass a media shield
law to guard against government overreach. And I’ve raised these issues with
the attorney general, who shares my concern. So he’s agreed to review existing
Department of Justice guidelines governing investigations that involve
reporters, and he’ll convene a group of media organizations to hear their
concerns as part of that review. And I’ve directed the attorney general to
report back to me by July 12th.
Now,
all these issues remind us that the choices we make about war can impact, in
sometimes unintended ways, the openness and freedom on which our way of life
depends. And that is why I intend to engage Congress about the existing Authorization
to Use Military Force, or AUMF, to determine how we can continue to fight
terrorism without keeping America on a perpetual wartime footing.
The
AUMF is now nearly twelve years old. The Afghan War is coming to an end. Core
al-Qaida is a shell of its former self. Groups like AQAP must be dealt with,
but in the years to come, not every collection of thugs that labels themselves
al-Qaida will pose a credible threat to the United States. Unless we discipline
our thinking, our definitions, our actions, we may be drawn into more wars we
don’t need to fight or continue to grant presidents unbound powers more suited
for traditional armed conflicts between nation states.
So
I look forward to engaging Congress and the American people in efforts to
refine and ultimately repeal the AUMF’s mandate. And I will not sign laws
designed to expand this mandate further. Our systematic effort to dismantle
terrorist organizations must continue. But this war, like all wars, must end.
That’s what history advises. It’s what our democracy demands.
And
that brings me to my final topic: the detention of terrorist suspects.
I’m
going to repeat one more time: As a matter of policy, the preference of the
United States is to capture terrorist suspects. When we do detain a suspect, we
interrogate them. And if the suspect can be prosecuted, we decide whether to
try him in a civilian court or a military commission.
During
the past decade the vast majority of those detained by our military were
captured on the battlefield. In Iraq, we turned over thousands of prisoners as
we ended the war. In Afghanistan, we have transitioned detention facilities to
the Afghans as part of the process of restoring Afghan sovereignty. So we bring
law-of-war detention to an end, and we are committed to prosecuting terrorists
whenever we can.
The
glaring exception to this time-tested approach is the detention center at
Guantanamo Bay. The original premise for opening Gitmo, that detainees would
not be able to challenge their detention, was found unconstitutional five years
ago. In the meantime, Gitmo has become a symbol around the world for an America
that flouts the rule of law. Our allies won’t cooperate with us if they think a
terrorist will end up at Gitmo. During a time of budget cuts, we spend $150 million
each year to imprison 166 people, almost a million dollars per prisoner. And
the Department of Defense estimates that we must spend another 200 million
(dollars) to keep Gitmo open at a time when we are cutting investments in
education and research here at home and when the Pentagon is struggling is
struggling with sequester and budget cuts.
As
president, I have tried to close Gitmo. I transferred 67 detainees to other
countries before Congress imposed restrictions to effectively prevent us from
either transferring detainees to other countries or imprisoning them here in
the United States. These restrictions make no sense. After all, under President
Bush, some 530 detainees were transferred from Gitmo with Congress’ support.
When I ran for president the first time, John McCain supported closing Gitmo.
This was a bipartisan issue.
No
person has ever escaped one of our super-max or military prisons here in the
United States -- ever. Our courts have convicted hundreds of people for
terrorism or terrorism-related offenses, including some folks who are more
dangerous than most Gitmo detainees there in our prisons. And given my
administration’s relentless pursuit of al-Qaida’s leadership, there is no
justification beyond politics for Congress to prevent us from closing a
facility that it should -- should have never been opened.
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: Excuse me, President Obama, you are the commander in chief -- (off mic)
-- (applause) --
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: Today -- so -- (sustained applause) -- so let me finish, ma’am. So today
-- so today, once again, today --
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: (Off mic) -- for (102 ?) people -- (off mic) -- people’s rights, these
desperate people -- (off mic) --
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: I’m about to address, ma’am, but you got -- you got to let me speak. I’m
about to address it.
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: -- (off mic) -- our commander in chief --
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: Let me address it.
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: Our commander in chief -- (off mic) -- Guantanamo Bay --
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: Why don’t you let me address it, ma’am.
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: (Off mic.)
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: Why don’t you sit down and I’ll tell you exactly what I’m going to do.
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: (Off mic.)
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: Thank you, ma’am. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause.) Ma’am -- thank you.
You should let me finish my sentence.
Today
I once again call on Congress to lift the restrictions on detainee transfers
from Gitmo. I have asked -- (applause) -- I have asked the Department of
Defense to designate a site in the United States where we can hold military
commissions.
I
am appointing a new senior envoy at the State Department and Defense Department
whose sole responsibility will be to achieve the transfer of detainees to third
countries. I am lifting the moratorium on detainee transfers to Yemen so we can
review them on a case-by-case basis.
To
the greatest extent possible, we will transfer detainees who have been cleared
to go to other countries. Where we --
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: (Off mic) -- released every day.
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: Where appropriate, we will bring terrorists to justice in our courts and
our military justice system. And we will insist that judicial review be
available for every detainee. Now --
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: (Off mic.)
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: Ma’am, let me -- let me finish. Let me finish, ma’am.
Now,
this is part of free speech, is you being able to speak, but also you listening
and me being able to speak. All right? (Applause.) Thank you. (Applause.)
Now,
even after we take these steps, one issue will remain, which is how to deal
with those Gitmo detainees who we know have participated in dangerous plots or
attacks but who cannot be prosecuted, for example, because the evidence against
them has been compromise or is inadmissible in a court of law. But once we
commit to a process of closing Gitmo, I am confident that this legacy problem
can be resolved, consistent with our commitment to the rule of law.
And
I know the politics are hard. But history will cast a harsh judgment on this
aspect of our fight against terrorism and those of us who fail to end it.
Imagine a future 10 years from now or 20 years from now when the United States
of America is still holding people who have been charged with no crime on a
piece of land that is not a part of our country.
Look
at the current situation, where we are force-feeding detainees who are being
held on a hunger strike. I’m willing to cut the young lady who interrupted me
some slack because it’s worth being passionate about. Is this who we are? Is
that something our founders foresaw? Is that the America we want to leave our children?
Our
sense of justice is stronger than that. We have prosecuted scores of terrorists
in our courts. That includes Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who tried to blow up an
airplane over Detroit, and Faisal Shahzad, who put a car bomb in Times Square.
It’s in a court of law that we will try Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, who is accused of
bombing the Boston Marathon.
Richard
Reid, the shoe bomber, is as we speak serving a life sentence in a maximum
security prison here in the United States. In sentencing Reid, Judge William
Young told him, “the way we treat you is the measure of our own liberty.”
When
--
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: How about Abdulrahman al-Awlaki, 16-year-old -- (inaudible) --
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: -- when we --
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: -- killed by you?
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: -- we went --
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: Is that the way we treat a 16-year-old -- (inaudible)?
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: He -- he -- he went on to --
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: Why was he killed?
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: -- we went --
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: Can you tell us why Abdulrahman al-Awlaki was killed? Can you tell the
Muslim people their lives are as precious as our lives? Can you take the drones
out of the hands of the CIA? Can you stop the signature strikes that are
killing people on the basis of suspicious activities?
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: We’re addressing that, ma’am.
AUDIENCE
MEMBER: (Inaudible) -- apologize to the thousands of Muslims that you have
killed? Will you compensate the innocent family victims? That will make us
safer here at home.
I
love my country! I love the rule of law! The drones are making us less safe.
And
keeping people in indefinite detention in Guantanamo is making us less safe.
Abide by the rule of law -- (inaudible) --
PRESIDENT
OBAMA: You know, I think that the -- and I’m going off script, as you might
expect, here. (Laughter, applause.) The -- the voice of that woman is worth
paying attention to. (Applause.) Obviously -- obviously I do not agree with
much of what she said, and obviously she wasn’t listening to me in much of what
I said.
But
these are tough issues, and the suggestion that we can gloss over them is
wrong. You know, when that judge sentenced Mr. Reid, the shoe bomber, he went
on to point to the American flag that flew in the courtroom. “That flag,” he
said, “will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag still stands
for freedom.”
So,
America, we have faced down dangers far greater than al- Qaida. By staying true
to the values of our founding, and by using our constitutional compass, we have
overcome slavery and Civil War, and fascism, and communism. In just these last
few years as president, I have watched the American people bounce back from
painful recession, mass shootings, natural disasters like the recent tornados
that devastated Oklahoma. These events were heartbreaking; they shook our
communities to the core. But because of the resilience of the American people,
these events could not come close to breaking us.
I
think of Lauren Manning, the 9/11 survivor who had severe burns over 80 percent
of her body, who said, “That’s my reality. I put a Band-Aid on it, literally,
and I move on.”
I
think of the New Yorkers who filled Times Square the day after an attempted car
bomb as if nothing had happened.
I
think of the proud Pakistani parents who, after their daughter was invited to
the White House, wrote to us, “We have raised an American Muslim daughter to
dream big and never give up because it does pay off.”
I
think of all the wounded warriors rebuilding their lives and helping other vets
to find jobs.
I
think of the runner planning to do the 2014 Boston Marathon, who said: “Next
year you’re going to have more people than ever. Determination is not something
to be messed with.”
That’s
who the American people are: determined, and not to be messed with.
And
now we need a strategy and a politics that reflects this resilient spirit. Our
victory against terrorism won’t be measured in a surrender ceremony at a
battleship or a statue being pulled to the ground. Victory will be measured in
parents taking their kids to school, immigrants coming to our shores, fans
taking in a ballgame, a veteran starting a business, a bustling city street, a
citizen shouting her concerns at a president. The quiet determination, that
strength of character and bond of fellowship, that refutation of fear -- that
is both our sword and our shield.
And
long after the current messengers of hate have faded from the world’s memory,
alongside the brutal despots and deranged madmen and ruthless demagogues who
litter history, the flag of the United States will still wave from small-town
cemeteries, to national monuments, to distant outposts abroad. And that flag
will still stand for freedom.
Thank
you very much, everybody. God bless you. May God bless the United States of
America.
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