Dr . Amer Sabaileh
Barack Obama’s last speech to the nation defined his position vis-à-vis the war against Daesh, or even the war against terrorism.
The American president said one should not fall in the terrorist trap by overestimating Daesh’s power. According to Obama, it is important to consider that Daesh does not pose an existential threat to the US.
Many think that Obama’s message goes beyond the American Republican rivals, to reach US allies who may have thought that the priority given to fighting terrorism might be the base for a new course in the relation between them and the US.
The regional crises made fighting terrorism a priority, especially after Daesh expanded in Iraq and Syria, and started killing in Europe.
Obama’s words might be surprising for some countries, as he imposes on them the necessity to revise their policies and strategies.
When Obama says that the US has become the strongest country in the world, it could probably mean that America can win the battle against Daesh, as it did with previous versions of terrorism, such as Osama Bin Laden.
The American president brought the example of Bin Laden to substantiate the US’ capacity of being decisive in such wars. Obama’s message has deprived the war against Daesh of any particularity.
It insists on treating this war as any other previous wars on terrorism, as a result, there is no need for any propaganda. By doing so, Obama preempts any attempt by any country to use this war politically or economically. When Obama considers the war on Daesh similar to previous wars, it means that the US continues to adopt the same neutral policies to deal with the developments in the region.
This means that the US allies should develop unilateral strategies by giving priority to internal reformation, so time is effectively exploited .
