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Obama: US has ‘never been more protected’ from ISIS

by Jesse Byrnes - 12/04/15 12:46 PM ET

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President Obama expressed confidence in an interview that aired Thursday that the U.S. is on guard against a Paris-style attack by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

“What I try to do is to make sure that people understand the threat is real, we have to be vigilant, but we also can’t panic and we can’t respond out of fear,” Obama said in the CBS News interview.

{mosads}”ISIL is not going to pose an existential threat to us,” he continued, using an alternate acronym for ISIS, adding, “they are a dangerous organization like al Qaeda was, but we have hardened our defenses. Our homeland has never been more protected by more effective intelligence and law enforcement professionals at every level than they are now.”

The president also told CBS that coordination among law enforcement is stronger than previously.

“If you look at the number of successful terrorist attacks that have occurred, you know, we have disrupted a lot of them, but the dangers are still there and so we just have to keep things in perspective,” Obama told the network.

Obama made the remarks in an interview taped Wednesday, shortly after a mass shooting in San Bernardino, Calif., that killed at least 14 people.

Since then, investigators have worked to establish a motive for the attack. On Friday, multiple news outlets reported that U.S. officials said one of the suspects, Tashfeen Malik, had posted allegiance to ISIS under a Facebook alias.

While it is not yet known whether Malik had ties to the terrorist group or was merely expressing support, the connection to ISIS could put the White House on the defensive.

The president came under fire last month for saying that ISIS had been geographically “contained,” a remark that was broadcast just hours before the terrorist attacks in Paris that left 130 dead.

Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, Obama said that “it is possible this was terrorist-related but we don’t know. It’s also possible this was workplace related.”

Tags ISIS terrorist attacks