Verified Document

Key Points Of The Presidents Address Essay

¶ … 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...

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…

Sources used in this document:
References

Hudson, J. (2013, May 23). The 4 key points of Barack Obama's counterterrorism speech. Retrieved from Foreign Policy: http://foreignpolicy.com/2013/05/23/the-4-key-points-of-barack-obamas-counterterrorism-speech/

O'Connell, M. E. (2013, May 24). Obama's Speech May Have Made His Drone Problem Worse. Retrieved from New Republic: https://newrepublic.com/article/113297/president-obama-and-drone-warfare-his-speech-wasnt-good-enough

The White House. (2013, May 23). Facts on President Obama's Speech on Counterterrorism. Retrieved from Office of the Press Secretary: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/st/english/texttrans/2013/05/20130523147928.html#axzz49PJsZCMv
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

President Joe Biden
Words: 1800 Length: 6 Document Type: Essay

President Biden and What He Must Accomplish Abstract President Joe Biden faces a difficult challenge of uniting a nation that has never before been more divided.  To pull it off, it is crucial that he select the right members for his Cabinet.  It is also important that in his first 100 days in office he lays the foundation for the administration and what it aims to accomplish.  This paper will discuss the

President Clinton's And Obama's Health Care Policies
Words: 2064 Length: 5 Document Type: Research Paper

President Clinton's And Obama's Health Care Policies President Obama's Healthcare policies The Affordable Care Act (ACA) has drawn some comparisons to elements of past efforts, including Mitt Romney's health care plan in Massachusetts and the Clinton plan from the 1990s. This paper will mainly examine the context of the Clinton Plan vs. The ACA. After winning office, President Clinton followed up on a campaign promise to provide health care to the 37

Presidents in My Opinion My
Words: 2043 Length: 6 Document Type: Term Paper

George H.W. Bush George Herbert Walker Bush, possibly the most underestimated president of recent times, is my choice for the fifth spot. It is perhaps understandable why Bush Sr. is often excluded from most people's list of "great" U.S. Presidents; unlike "activist" presidents such as Franklin Roosevelt or his predecessor, Ronald Reagan, Bush carried out his job in a low-key manner but did his job competently. This is precisely why I

Rhetoric FDR's Address to the Nation Following
Words: 624 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Rhetoric FDR's address to the nation following the Pearl Harbor attack is a strong speech. The introduction is strong. It is to the point, and sets the tone for the rest of the speech. The body covers the facts of the situation in a concise manner. The body also ensures that the listener is rallied to the cause. The conclusion contains a call for action. This call for action is directly

JFK and President Bush
Words: 2235 Length: 5 Document Type: Term Paper

Businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/mar2004/nf20040312_0969_db056.htm Blaum, P. And Fong, V. Bush's media challenges recall those of JFK. Monday, April 5, 2004. Penn State Live. Accessed June 11, 2008; available at http://live.psu.edu/story/6272 Eland, I. Ivan Eland compares George W. Bush's performance to other post-Second World War presidents. July 16, 2006.. Calgary Herald. Accessed June 11, 2008; available at http://www.independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=1766 John F. Kennedy. Address before the American Society of Newspaper Editors. President John F. Kennedy. Statler Hilton Hotel, Washington,

Key Issues
Words: 1223 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

A combination of the two systems could be used, with a 75 to 25% ratio, for example. An important element of the compensation plan could be identifying a way that this could be used as an instrument to drive synergies and cooperation between what was formerly Express and Ground. One of the ways to do this could be to create teams of former Express and Ground sales executives and to

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now