On Sunday, President Obama addressed the nation from the Oval Office to speak on how he plans to combat the issue of terrorism in the wake of attacks both domestic and abroad. A tangible sense of foreboding could be can be felt by the American people after the attacks in Paris that left 130 people dead and the attack in San Bernardino, California, that left 14 dead, both of which can be attributed to the terrorist organization ISIS. In light of recent circumstances, the president took to the microphone to reassure his constituency of his commitment to solving these issues and preventing similar tragedies from occurring in the future.

The president touched on numerous solutions and actions to be put in place that would culminate in a holistic response to the threat of terrorism within the United States and on foreign soil. In addition to outlining future courses of action, Obama also outlined what should not be done moving forward. The president warned against the deployment of troops on the ground to combat ISIS and instead continue the application of “air strikes, special forces, and working with local forces” in order to reach a more “sustainable victory”. He also spoke on making it more difficult for domestic acts of terrorism to occur by rectifying contributing factors such as the relative ease of acquiring high-powered firearms. Furthermore, President Obama advised on what needs to be done by the American people outside of military and security strategies.

Obama made a point to acknowledge that a line of demarcation needs to be drawn and maintained between the definition of a terrorist and a practitioner of a chosen religion. The crimes committed in the name of Islam are not the fault of all who practice the religion, a distinction that demagogues like Donald Trump seem to disregard entirely (on Monday, he proposed halting all immigration of Muslims). Regardless of how precarious the context, fear and prejudice is never the appropriate response. We must never forget that we are not fighting Islam as an ideology. We are fighting individuals who have embraced a radicalized version of an ideology, and the only ones culpable for their actions are the individuals themselves.    

Criticisms have been made of the resident’s speech citing that new, bolder strategies were not issued, and that the speech was only made to placate the American people into continuing on a failing course. Some see now as the time in which we should allow our governing body to be ruled by prejudice and discrimination, believing it will alleviate our fears and concerns. However, doing so will be the first pull in the unraveling of our democratic society. President Obama has simply followed the same advice given to the American people within the speech. Those who look to the president to dramatically alter his stances and opinions to correspond with a general sense of fear felt by the people are not looking for a leader. A leader must lead despite circumstance and make decisions from a place above temporary emotion. The moment the leader of our country succumbs to the fear and indecision of the constituency is the moment we have lost any and every fight we are engaged in at home or abroad. We must not look to our leaders to be openly swayed by the fears we ourselves feel, but instead look to those who can lead in spite of them.