Barack Obama assures America will overcome new phase of terrorism

US President Barack Obama said America has entered a new phase of terrorism in a rare Oval Office address on Sunday night, but he assured that the country will be able to overcome the threat. The speech was made following the spine-chilling shooting in San Bernardino, California, last week that killed 14 and wounded 21.

"I know that after so much war, many Americans are asking whether we are confronted by a cancer that has no immediate cure," he said. "The threat from terrorism is real, but we will overcome it.”

The president said that America has successfully prevented countless terror plots that were complex and planned on much organised levels. However, he warned his countrymen that counter terrorism efforts in America are facing a new challenge in the form of mass shootings, which have become so common in the country.

“As we’ve become better at preventing complex multi-faceted attacks like 9/11, terrorists turned to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that are all too common in our society,” he said, alluding to the California shooting as well as the Chattanooga shooting earlier this year and the Fort Hood shooting of 2009.

He also noted that the Internet has helped in shrinking the distance between countries, which in turn allowed terrorists to “poison the minds” of American people. According to him, although there are no hard proof yet that the main accused behind the San Bernardino shooting had any direct connection with an overseas terror network, the accused have nonetheless been radicalised.

"This was an act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people," he said.

The Guardian reported that the president has also defended his existing strategy of fighting against the Islamic State as critics urge for more military action in Syria. He asserted that America won’t depend on tough talks or abandon its values to ensure success, as that is what the ISIS is hoping for. According to him, America would instead be stronger, smarter and more relentless in its actions.