White House Refuses To Be Politically Correct with New Counterterrorism Strategy
The Trump administration isn’t beating around the bush when it comes to discussing the threat of Islamic terror groups.
At the beginning of this month, the White House released its first fully-articulated, national counterterrorism strategy since 2011 and it uses strikingly different language to classify terrorism than that of the Obama administration.
The president’s new, government-wide strategy has renewed emphasis on opposing “radical Islamic terrorist groups,” which stands in stark contrast to former President Barack Obama’s efforts to underplay the threat of Islamic terrorism — not to mention his effort to avoid even saying the phrase.
The Trump administration’s strategy is focused on tackling Islamic terror threats and they aren’t afraid to say that clearly.
National Security Adviser John Bolton told reporters at a news conference Thursday that the new plan of action is a “departure” from the old plan.
“Radical Islamist terrorist groups represent the preeminent transnational terrorist threat to the United States, and to United States’ interests abroad,” Bolton said.
“The fact is the radical Islamic threat that we face is a form of ideology,” he continued. “One may hope that the ideological fervor disappears, but sad to report, it remains strong all around the world, and even with the defeat of the ISIS territorial caliphate, we see the threat spreading to other countries.”
According to a briefing released by the White House on Thursday, “The new strategy focuses the United States on countering all terrorists with the intent and ability to harm our country. The strategy emphasizes the use of all of America’s tools to prevent and counter terrorism, strengthening military approaches while delivering a new emphasis on non-military capabilities.”
The United States’ new approach also identifies Iran as the foremost state sponsor of global terror. This too represents a pivotal change from the former administration, which attempted to moderate Iran with placating motions like the nuclear deal, which Trump pulled out of earlier this year and criticized as “defective at its core.”
“The United States faces terrorist threats from Iran, which remains the most prominent state sponsor of terrorism that, really, the world’s central banker of international terrorism since 1979,” Bolton said.
“And from other terrorist groups. Iran-sponsored terrorist groups such as Lebanese Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic jihad, continue to pose a threat to the United States and our interests.”
The president also focused on countering Iran in his comments regarding the new counterterrorism strategy.
“I ended United States participation in the horrible Iran deal, which had provided a windfall for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies, funding Iran’s malign activities throughout the world,” Trump said in a statement released Thursday.
The White House said the United States will pursue “terrorists at their source” and isolate them “from their sources of support,” by robust military action and international sanctions to restrict their funding.
The new plan also emphasizes “protecting American infrastructure and enhancing resilience; countering terrorist radicalization and recruitment; and strengthening the counterterrorism abilities of our international partners.”
“However, America First does not mean America alone,” the White House statement reads.
“The new strategy commits us to expand our partnerships at home and abroad to encourage partners’ assistance in counterterrorism activities. This includes working with our North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Allies and partners.”
Overall, Trump’s new strategy throws political correctness to the wayside and puts the safety of American citizens at home and abroad as the top priority.
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