Look Who it Was Random video

President Obama in South Africa talks about the Problem of Terrorism - Unravel Travel TV

863 views · Published 2 July 2013 · 4:09 · Indexed 14 November 2026

Channel: Unravel Travel TV · 2013 · Travel & Events

Watch on YouTube

President Obama participated in a town hall with the Young African Leaders Initiative at the University of Johannesburg-Soweto in Johannesburg, South Africa (Saturday 29 June 2013) - Addressing the Problem of Terrorism.

President Obama: "Now, with respect to the so-called war on terror, there's no doubt that we've made some progress in dealing with some extremist groups -- for example, core al Qaeda and bin Laden, that was based in the FATA area between Pakistan and Afghanistan -- that they have been greatly diminished. But what is also true is that in some ways, the problem has metastasized. You have more regional terrorist organizations, like a Boko Haram in Nigeria, espousing an extremist ideology, showing no regard for human life. And although they may not have the same transnational capacity that some of the earlier organizations did, they're doing great harm in Africa and in the Middle East and in South Asia. People always talk about the terrorist threat to the United States or the West, but the truth of the matter is, is that the number of people who are killed by terrorist attacks in African countries, or in Muslim countries, or in South Asia, far outstrips any deaths that are experienced by westerners. It's typically people right there where these organizations are based that are most likely to be killed. When the Kenya Embassy bombing happened, the overwhelming majority of people who were killed were Kenyans, not Americans. And so this is not just a problem for us. This is a problem for everybody. Now, the question is, how do we address this problem? It is my strong belief that terrorism is more likely to emerge and take root where countries are not delivering for their people and where there are sources of conflict and underlying frustrations that have not been adequately dealt with. The danger we have right now, for example, in a place like Somalia is that it's been two generations, maybe three since there was a functioning government inside of Somalia. Now, we've started to see actually some progress, in part because of intervention by African nations in Somalia to clear the space, to create the space for governance. But you look at what's happening in Mali, for example, right now. Part of the problem is, is that you had a weak central government and democratic institutions that weren't reaching out as far into the country as were necessary, and we've got to build those institutions. A lot of what we talked about in terms of responsiveness and governance and democracy, those things become defense mechanisms against terrorism. They're the most important defense against terrorism. So I don't start with the attitude of a military solution to these problems. I think the more that we're giving people opportunity, the more that we're giving people education, the more that we're helping resolve conflicts through regular democratic processes, the less likely they are to take root. Now, having said that, there are some extremist groups that will not compromise or work through a democratic process, and we have to also be realistic about that. And what we want to do is partner with African countries to figure out how we can help.

Live broadcast Unravel Travel TV http://www.unraveltraveltv.com
Unravel Travel TV Twitter http://www.twitter.com/UnravelTravelTV
Unravel Travel TV on You Tube http://www.youtube.com/UnravelTravelTV
Unravel Travel TV http://www.unraveltravel.eu

More from this channel