Redefining the war on terrorism

President Obama called for an end to what he called America’s “perpetual war” against terrorism.

What happened

President Obama called for an end to what he called America’s “perpetual war” against terrorism last week, announcing plans to set limits on the use of drones, and begin moving out some of the detainees at the prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. In the first major foreign policy speech of his second term, Obama said he would work with Congress to “refine, and ultimately repeal,” the post-9/11 legal framework giving the president a virtual blank check to use force against terrorists. Citing James Madison’s warning that “no nation could preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare,” he said the time had come to redefine the U.S. war against a decimated al Qaida. “Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue,” Obama said. “But this war, like all wars, must end.”

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