United States President Donald Trump on Thursday highlighted the headway made under his Presidency in countering terrorism so far and stressed on the importance of the new National Strategy for Counterterrorism in "countering the increasingly complex and evolving terrorist threats."
A statement issued by Trump read, "Under my leadership, the United States has accelerated efforts to defeat terrorists. Working with coalition partners, we have decimated ISIS in Syria and Iraq. Likewise, I ended United States participation in the horrible Iran deal, which had provided a windfall for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its proxies, funding Iran's malign activities throughout the world. Importantly, I have also secured historic increases in defence funding to rebuild our Nation's military."
"The National Strategy for Counterterrorism is an important next step. It outlines the approach of the United States to countering the increasingly complex and evolving terrorist threats and represents the Nation's first fully articulated counterterrorism strategy since 2011. It provides the strategic guidance needed to protect the United States against all terrorist threats, while simultaneously fostering the agility to anticipate, prevent, and respond to new threats," the statement added.
Trump further stated that the new strategy will help guide the US to "use all instruments of American power" for the security of the nation, adding that "we will defeat our enemies with the full force of American might."
Meanwhile, Vice President Mike Pence noted that the current terror threats are "more complex, fluid, and fast-moving than ever."
"Terrorist groups and networks such as al-Qa'ida, ISIS, and Iranian-supported terrorists continue to target us, our allies, and partners. We must combat these threats through a comprehensive and coordinated approach," a statement from Pence read.
Pence stated that the strategy emphasised "the importance of diplomacy and the role of international partnerships in combating the terrorist threats," and that it "recognizes the need for all nations to equitably share the burden of confronting terrorism, to expand the counterterrorism capabilities of our partners, and to work collaboratively to defeat the terrorists of today and tomorrow."
The new strategy, which National Security Adviser John Bolton described as being contrasting to former President Barack Obama's approach and identifies terrorism as to be stemming from radical Islamist ideologies, comes 21 months after the election of Trump as the 45th US President.
George Bush and Obama had approved their own versions of counterterrorism strategies in 2006 and 2011 respectively.
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