President Obama appeared on national television tonight to address the nation about the recent attack in San Bernardino where 14 were killed by Islamic terrorists. It was a brief speech, largely without substance and revealing no new initiatives to deal with terrorism in the U.S.
In his initial statements, he stated we still don’t know the “motivations” for the attack, but grudgingly admitted the couple was associated with radical Islam and the attack was terrorism.
Obama took the opportunity to call for additional gun control measures, asking Congress to ban assault weapons and to ban people on the “no fly” list from buying guns. Neither of these would have prevented San Bernadino.
The President also said visa applications would be reviewed more thoroughly, in particular those used to allowed Tashfeen Malik, the wife of the couple to enter the country.
He also asked Congress to authorize military force against ISIL (which is already being done). He spoke about a coalition of countries including France, Germany and Great Britain dedicated to destroying ISIL.
Obama vowed he would not send soldiers into a ground war, but rather support local forces. And he cautioned against blaming non-radical Muslims for the terrorism.
Author’s note: First, never let a crisis go to waste, Obama pushed his anti-gun agenda, fortunately not too hard.
While prohibiting people on the “no fly” list from buying guns may seem like a good idea, remember this list is not generated by law enforcement, no courts are involved, and you don’t have to be convicted of anything to be on it. It is based on potentially arbitrary bureaucratic judgment. The “no fly” list has become part of our security fabric, but make no mistake, it is unconstitutional. Making this a criteria for restricting guns opens the door for widespread government abuse, clearly in conflict with the Second Amendment.
As one commentator mentioned, this speech should have been given right after the attack occurred, to calm the Nation and to let people know the government was on top of it. Instead, Obama mislead us by presuming “workplace violence”, and used the first 24 hours to push his anti-gun agenda.
No new international initiatives, except other countries may be better motivated. Ineffectual suggestions for domestic changes.