WASHINGTON (AP) — Working to ease public jitters ahead of the holidays, President Barack Obama will use visits to the Pentagon and the National Counterterrorism Center this week to try to explain his strategy for stopping the Islamic State group abroad and its sympathizers at home.
Obama's high-profile visits to agencies charged with keeping the U.S. safe follow an Oval Office address Dec. 6 that aimed to reassure the public but that critics said failed to do the job. Obama is also hoping to draw a contrast with Donald Trump and his inflammatory remarks about Muslims, which Obama's administration has warned emboldens extremists looking to pull the U.S. into a war with Islam.
"Terrorists like ISIL are trying to divide us along lines of religion and background," Obama said in his weekly address, using an acronym for the extremist group. "That's how they stoke fear. That's how they recruit."
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