Michael Hernandez
04 October 2018•Update: 05 October 2018
WASHINGTON
The White House introduced a new counterterrorism strategy Thursday that it said is "much broader" than that of former U.S. President Barack Obama's plan.
President Donald Trump's new strategy is the first since Obama rolled out his plan in 2011.
National Security Advisor John Bolton told reporters at the White House the new measure recognizes "that there's a terrorist ideology that we're confronting, and I think it's long been the president's view that without recognizing that we're in an ideological struggle, that we can't properly address the terrorist threat."
While adopting rhetoric that the Obama administration insisted was unhelpful in the fight against terrorism, the new strategy reflects in many ways aspects of Obama's plan, as well as that of President George W. Bush.
"Today's terrorist landscape is more fluid and complex than ever," the report said. "While we have succeeded in disrupting large-scale attacks in the homeland since 2001, we have not sufficiently mitigated the overall threat that terrorists pose."
The plan seeks to "dismantle" militant networks, and "sever" them from their sources of strength while maintaining pressure on the organizations to prevent their reemergence.
It also sought to prioritize "non-military capabilities," including the prevention of recruitment, and efforts to push back on online propaganda.
"This includes leveraging the skills and resources of civil society and non-traditional partners to diminish terrorists’ efforts to radicalize and recruit people in the United States," it said.
The report's emphasis on Iran is a reflection of Bolton, who has long taken a hawkish approach to the Islamic Republic and has continued to do so after assuming his White House post in April.
While addressing reporters he called Tehran "the world's central banker of international terrorism" following its 1979 revolution, and said it supports a range of militant groups in the region that "continue to pose a threat to the United States and our interests."
