Pres. Obama's "tide of war is receding" gives way to terrorism as "a persistent threat"

[bigtree]

Spencer Ackerman ?@attackerman 4m4 minutes ago
"The tide of war is receding" gives way to terrorism as "a persistent threat." http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/06/obama-national-security-plan-terrorism-middle-east …


US facing open-ended conflict in Middle East, Obama's security plan says
Final national security strategy of Obama’s presidency declares terrorism a ‘persistent threat’ in reversal of president’s end-of-war assurances

In a reversal of his campaign-trail assurances that the tide of war is receding, the final national security strategy of Barack Obama’s presidency declares terrorism “a persistent threat” amid a “generational struggle for power in the Middle East”.

The 2015 National Security Strategy, released by the White House on Friday, resigns the US to an open-ended conflict against al-Qaida and now the Islamic State , as well as their undefined “affiliates”. It does not significantly discuss Yemen or Pakistan, the two most active theaters of drone strikes against al-Qaida.

While the document declares al-Qaida’s core leadership “decimated”, the strategy forecasts a continued global conflict against a “more diffuse” series of al-Qaida and Isis networks abroad, raising questions about what a counter-terrorism approach that privileges decapitation strikes will durably achieve.

Underscoring the point, as the White House unveiled the strategy document, the US military announced 10 new air strikes in Syria and eight in Iraq against Isis.

The White House calls its model – a now-familiar emphasis on airpower, particularly from armed drones, special operations raids, and pervasive surveillance, bolstered by regional proxies – a “more sustainable” approach than the two ground wars it has drawn down but not ended.


read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/06/obama-national-security-plan-terrorism-middle-east

related:

WhiteHouse – Fact Sheet on the 2015 National Security Strategy: http://go.usa.gov/htvY

[msongs]

1. for a starter he could quit murdering muslims with drones if he wants "peace" nt