奥巴马：美国本土恐怖主义威胁进入新阶段

美国总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)周日在总统办公室发表讲话，少有地介绍了美国政府为打击美国出现的恐怖主义威胁“新阶段”而加强的措施，此举目的是在上周加州圣贝纳迪诺造成多人死伤的袭击事件后提升公众对其国家安全战略的信心。

奥巴马称，圣贝纳迪诺袭击事件凸显出美国境内的恐怖主义威胁已进入新阶段。

他站在总统办公室内的一个讲台后说，这是一起意在杀害无辜者的恐怖主义行为。

奥巴马在黄金时段发表的讲话标志着美国政府打击伊斯兰国(Islamic State，简称IS)和其他恐怖组织的行动出现了转折点，美国之前主要是在海外打击恐怖主义。圣贝纳迪诺袭击事件令美国人不再认为打击恐怖主义是海外的战斗。这是2001年911事件后美国发生的死伤人数最多的恐怖袭击事件。目前奥巴马面临的挑战是让美国人民相信政府正在尽其所能防止发生类似袭击事件。

奥巴马既未宣布对其反恐战略进行重大调整，也未表示将对由美国主导的在伊拉克及叙利亚所进行的打击伊斯兰国的军事行动做出任何大幅调整。他只是强调将在全国范围内加强安全举措，以阻止恐怖分子对美国发动攻击，并改善应对伊斯兰国的策略，试图以此安抚国民的紧张情绪。

奥巴马呼吁国会通过某些提案，他认为这些提案可以进一步降低美国遭受的恐怖袭击威胁，包括立法禁止向“禁飞名单”之上的恐怖分子出售攻击性武器及枪支。这一提议得到了两党部分议员的支持，但却遭到共和党领导人的反对，他们指出，这将侵犯宪法第二修正案赋予被误列入“禁飞名单”的美国公民的权利。

奥巴马还敦促国会通过一项新决议，授权政府对伊斯兰国展开军事行动。该决议在国会一直处于搁浅状态。

此外，他还呼吁国会批准相关措施，对根据一项免签证计划进入美国的外国人加强甄别。上周，奥巴马政府列出了需要对这项计划做出的调整；根据这项计划，38个国家（多为欧洲和亚洲国家）的公民无需签证便可进入美国。计划调整后，所有前往被视为恐怖分子庇护国的活动都将受到调查。

Damian Paletta / Carol E. Lee

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英文原文：

Terrorist Threat Has ‘Evolved’ Into a New Phase, Obama Says

President asks Congress to vote on war resolution against Islamic State, ban people on no-fly list from buying guns

President Barack Obama used a rare Oval Office address on Sunday to lay out his administration’s approach for dealing with the rising threat of domestic terrorism in the wake of last week’s San Bernardino massacre, calling for new gun control measures and tightened visa application processes, but suggesting no new military initiatives.

Mr. Obama said the attack underscores that the threat of terrorism in the U.S. “has evolved into a new phase.”

“This was an act of terrorism designed to kill innocent people,” he said. “As we’ve become better at preventing complex multifaceted attacks like 9/11, terrorists turn to less complicated acts of violence like the mass shootings that are all too common in our society.”

The president called on Congress to pass legislation to prevent people who are on “no fly” terrorism watch lists from buying guns in the U.S., and reiterated his call for lawmakers to pass a new authorization for his administration to use force against Islamic State, or ISIS, a vote he said would “demonstrate that the American people are united, and committed, to this fight.”

In addition, Mr. Obama called for new measures to tighten national security, including a review of the visa program that one of the San Bernardino attackers used to enter the U.S. last year.

He also sharply pressed for Muslim leaders to be more active in stopping radicalization, an area where U.S. officials have seen mixed success in recent years. As part of this push, he pleaded with Americans not to alienate Muslims in response to last week’s attacks, warning that “this divisiveness, that betrayal of our values plays into the hands of groups like ISIL.”

The prime-time address marked a turning point in his administration’s fight against Islamic State and other terrorist groups that previously had largely played out on foreign soil.

Mr. Obama’s remarks came after sustained criticism from political foes—and even some Democratic allies in Congress—who had complained that the White House had not done enough to articulate or adjust its strategy for combating Islamic State terrorists both at home and abroad.

The San Bernardino massacre—the deadliest terrorist attack in the U.S. since Sept. 11, 2001—shattered any sense among Americans that the battle was one waged overseas. The challenge now for Mr. Obama lies in assuring the country that the government is doing everything it can to prevent similar attacks.

Mr. Obama didn’t announce an overhaul of his counterterrorism strategy or any sweeping changes in the U.S.-led military campaign in Iraq and Syria against Islamic State. Instead, he sought to reassure a jittery nation by emphasizing a boost in national-security measures designed to blunt terrorists’ ability to strike in the U.S., and in elements of his Islamic State strategy.

“We will prevail by being strong and smart, resilient and relentless,” he said.

The president leaned heavily on Congress to help augment the strategy he has already had in place, but Republican leaders were critical of his plans.

“The enemy is adapting, and we must too. That’s why what we heard tonight was so disappointing: no new plan, just a half-hearted attempt to defend and distract from a failing policy,” House SpeakerPaul Ryan (R., Wis.) said in a statement.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker (R., Tenn.) suggested potential common ground with the White House on tightening visa screening but said the current threats require a “more robust strategy” than the one Mr. Obama outlined.

“What the president needed to do tonight, but failed to do, is to articulate to the American people a new, clear strategy to defeat ISIS and protect our country and our allies from more terrorist attacks. Instead, what we heard was more of the same containment strategy,” Mr. Corker said in a statement.

Jeb Bush, a Republican presidential candidate and former governor of Florida said: “This president hasn’t had a strategy and it is creating a caliphate the size of Indiana.” GOP front-runner Donald Trump tweeted: “Is that all there is? We need a new President—FAST!”

The president said he had ordered a review of the visa program under which Tashfeen Malik, the wife of the other suspect in the San Bernardino attacks, had entered the U.S. last year. That program allows the potential spouses of American citizens to enter the U.S. on a K-1 or fiancé/fiancée visa with the requirement that they marry within 90 days.

Then the spouse can apply for permanent residence through the “Green Card” program.

In the wake of the Nov. 13 Paris attacks that killed 130 people, Mr. Obama spoke out sharply against legislation in Congress to halt the resettlement of Syrian and Iraqi refugees in the U.S.

While Mr. Obama called for streamlining technology that allows law enforcement to better track potential threats, he didn’t seek to renew the debate on surveillance.

The administration also is looking into tackling the use of encrypted messages to plan attacks.

The attack in San Bernardino has intensified calls for the White House to rethink the U.S. approach against Islamic State and on national-security issues more broadly.

The U.S. has mostly relied on airstrikes to combat Islamic State and recently launched a campaign targeting the group’s funding sources, specifically its oil supply. The White House plans to host a summit on Dec. 17 focusing on ways to disrupt Islamic State’s financial network.

While declaring the San Bernardino attack, which killed 14 people and injured 21, an “act of terror,” Mr. Obama on Sunday appealed to Americans to resist reacting in ways he believes would alienate Muslims in the U.S. and fuel the extremist ideology perpetuated by groups like Islamic State.

Even before Wednesday’s attack, polls showed that confidence in Mr. Obama’s approach to national security had started to wane following attacks by supporters of Islamic State on several continents. Combined, recent attacks in the U.S., France, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt and Mali have killed more than 500 people.

The attacks came after a statement by an international consortium of countries that they were making progress in disrupting Islamic State’s foothold in Syria and Iraq. Mr. Obama also said in recent weeks that the group was contained there and that there was no credible terrorism threat against the U.S.

Islamic State is increasingly using a combination of foreign fighters slipping into Europe as well as social media radicalization to expand its reach.

Unlike the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris, the one in San Bernardino doesn’t appear to have been organized by Islamic State but rather carried out by individuals sympathetic to the group. In many ways that further complicates U.S. efforts to prevent future attacks.

The San Bernardino shooting has been particularly jarring for Americans because it was carried out at an atypical target—a social-services center—and in a community that wouldn’t otherwise have been identified as a terrorist target.

The background of the suspects further stoked fears that the government won’t be able to prevent similar attacks because they were carried out by an American citizen and his Pakistani-born wife who entered the U.S. legally.

By Carol E. Lee and Damian Paletta

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