President Obama is on a roll over the past few days. First, he told a group of columnists during a meeting at the White House that he was unaware of serious American concerns about the terrorism threat because he wasn't watching enough cable television.
Now in a new interview with NPR, President Obama is claiming that not only is ISIS incapable of destroying the United States, but that the terror army cannot systematically change how America operates.
Just weeks after the shooting in San Bernardino, President Obama is seeking to downplay the reach and impact of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), saying America's strength is "not threatened" by the extremist group.
"This is not an organization that can destroy the United States," Mr. Obama told NPR in an interview released Monday. "This is not a huge industrial power that can pose great risks to us institutionally or in a systematic way."
In the interview, Obama also said this:
"They can hurt us, and they can hurt our people and our families. And so I understand why people are worried."
But the president remains "confident" that the U.S. will prevail over the terror group at home and abroad: "We are pounding ISIL's core structure in Syria and Iraq. We have put together a coalition that is increasingly effective. We have seen ISIL lose about 40 percent of its populated territory in the region."
"The most damage they can do, though, is if they start changing how we live and what our values are," he continued. If Americans "remember who we are and make sure that our resilience, our values, and our unity are maintained," the president pledged that "ISIL will be defeated."
Last week, the largest school district in the country was shut down after a bomb threat, which luckily turned out to be a hoax.
Schools across the city reopened under tightened security Wednesday after an emailed terror threat prompted officials to shut down more than 1,000 schools to the district's 650,000 students Tuesday.Further, major American theme parks and other public places have implemented extra security measures in light of the ISIS threat.
"Thanks to the extraordinary effort by Los Angeles Unified School Police and our law-enforcement partners, all L.A. Unified schools and charters have been inspected and Chief Steven Zipperman has given the all-clear for students to return to campus," the district said in a statement.
Schools Police Chief Zipperman said school police officers will wear uniforms this week, and city Police Chief Charlie Beck said LAPD officers will have an expanded presence around schools as well.
Walt Disney World, SeaWorld, and Universal Orlando now have metal detectors for guests to walk through when entering the theme parks. SeaWorld started this process at the beginning of the holiday season, while Walt Disney World had no comment as to how long the detectors would be in place. Universal Orlando is using the holiday traffic to test the metal detectors at the entrance of the park.
Disney World has now discontinued the sale of toy guns and will not be allowing guests 14 and older to wear costumes into the park, even during Halloween parties. Park security has been even more prevalent lately, with trained dogs patrolling main areas, as well as a higher number of security guards and officers.
ISIS does have the ability to systematically change the country and they already have, which Obama admits after trying to claim the terror army doesn't have the power or ability to do so. To say different is to deny the severity of the threat and to downplay the significance of ISIS, something the Obama administration has repeatedly done over the course of the past two years.
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