President Barrack Obama addressed America’s concern of the jihadist group, known as the Islamic State, that is currently operating in Syria and Iraq. Mainly, he announced various components of his counter-terrorism strategy. This plan includes more U.S. air strikes in Iraq, aid from other countries, and sending an additional 475 U.S. military troops to help Iraq’s military. The president also emphasized having more troops on local grounds to take action against the Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS. Later on in his speech, Obama expressed his opinion on ISIL affiliation with the Islamic Religion. He believes that ISIL is a terrorist group, and, therefore, is not Islamic because no religion would support the cruel murdering of innocents. ISIL has American blood on their hands after beheading two American journalists, Jim Foley and Steven Sotloff.
The message was delivered with commitment and determination. Obama ensured America of his ambition when he stated, “I will not hesitate to take action against ISIL in Syria, as well as Iraq.” He delivered the message in such a way that gave viewers, tuning in at home, a sense of relief that the President was finally taking care of the issue at hand. He was confident in saying, “This is American leadership at its best: We stand with people who fight for their own freedom, and we rally other nations on behalf of our common security and common humanity.”
The most effective part of the message was that in the beginning when ISIL killed the first journalist about a month ago, the President didn’t take much action to ensure the safety of our country or bring the second journalist back home. He waited until the second journalist was also murdered to take action and protect the country. Another portion of the speech that was interesting was when he stated, “I have the authority to address the threat from ISIL. But I believe we are strongest as a nation when the president and Congress work together. So I welcome congressional support for this effort in order to show the world that Americans are united in confronting this danger.” This statement rose the question of will congress unite? In stating that he has the authority to take action with or without the approval of congress leaves an unsettling feeling in the minds of the people. This is contradictory because when outlining his plan, Obama seems to be confident that his plan will be victorious in the defeat of ISIL. However, if congress is not supporting his strategy, it makes others question how effective it really is.
While watching the national address several media truths stood out. For example, everything that happened in the past will happen again. Obama referenced the procedures taken in Yemen and Somalia and announced that the military strategy will resemble these previous efforts. However, the repetition of this plan seems to be a concern to most people because the U.S. airstrikes in those regions have not reached a reasonable conclusion. Therefore, will repeating a previous plan lead to the similar result? Another media truth is that media are essential components of our lives. Viewers tuning in to listen to President Obama’s new counter-terrorism plan used different sources of media such as television, computers, and newspapers. Without being immersed in media, society would have a difficult time staying updated with national news. The medium is the message. Therefore, not only is the information important, the media one uses to express what to say is also significant.
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