Washington: US President Barack Obama on Wednesday assured Americans of their safety and security ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday season by stating that currently there is "no specific and credible" intelligence threat of terrorist attack. "As of today, we know of no specific and credible intelligence indicating a plot on the homeland. We are both equipped to prevent attacks, and resilient in the face of those who would try to do us harm," Obama said soon after his meeting with his top national security advisors.
Referring to the Paris attacks, Obama said: "It's understandable that people worry something similar could happen here. Watching the events in Paris made the threat feel closer to home. "So as we go into Thanksgiving weekend, I want the American people to know is that we are taking every possible step to keep our homeland safe," Obama told his countrymen in a live address from the White House. He reiterated that the US is going after ISIL wherever it hides.
"That's been our strategy for more than a year. I'll speak about this in more detail in the coming weeks, but let me remind the American people of what our coalition of some 65 nations is doing to destroy these terrorists and defeat their ideology," he said. So far, the US military and its partners have conducted more than 8,000 airstrikes on ISIL strongholds and equipment.
Those airstrikes, along with the efforts of its partners on the ground, have taken out key leaders, have taken back territory from ISIL in both Iraq and Syria, he noted. "We continue to work to choke off their financing and their supply lines and counter their recruitment and their messaging," he said. Obama said in the event of a specific, credible threat, the public will be informed.
"We do think it's useful for people as they're going about their business to be vigilant. If you see something suspicious, say something. That's always helpful," he said. The US continues to do everything possible to prevent attacks at home and abroad and to prevent foreign terrorist fighters from entering the US or other nations, he said.
"We continue to improve upon our approaches as we speak. Right now, we know of no specific and credible intelligence indicating a plot on the homeland, and that is based on the latest information I just received in the situation room," Obama said.
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