Obama Discusses Threats at Worldwide Troop Talk

Speaking at Fort Meade, Md., on the 14th anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, President Barack Obama said the United States has made “enormous strides in degrading the core al Qaeda,” but many “threats still exist.” He credited Fort Meade for doing “some of the most important work in helping to coordinate our efforts to make sure we are bringing to bear all elements of American power against those that would try to do us harm.” Even though the combat mission in Afghanistan is over, Obama said it’s still “critically important” to keep trainers and advisors on the ground to make sure the Afghan military gets the support it needs. He praised airmen for “doing extraordinary work with the support of all the other service branches,” training the Iraqi military as it battles ISIS on the ground. “In Iraq, and in Syria, and Afghanistan, and North Africa, what we’re very clear about is that we still have significant threats coming from terrorist organizations and the terrorist ideology,” said Obama during the worldwide troop event. He also acknowledged “traditional threats” in the Pacific and in Europe, as well as a “new era” of potential threats in the cyber domain. “We’re going to continually have to work at every level to make sure that our men and women in uniform are provided the strategy they need to succeed, the resources they need to succeed, the equipment, [and] the training,” he said. (Watch video of the troop talk.)