--- title: State of the Union: Obama Puts Terrorism in Perspective description: But his message was muddled by the day's events. canonical: https://time.com/4178403/state-of-the-union-terrorism/ author: Mark Thompson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-13T03:25:46.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-05T08:40:42.463Z article:section: Politics og:title: Obama Puts Terrorism in Perspective in State of the Union og:description: But his message was muddled by events. og:url: https://time.com/4178403/state-of-the-union-terrorism/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71dac24bc6c07e53/698878e5cd1bba1e7f6feecc/gettyimages-504722960.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: GettyImages-504722960 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Obama Puts Terrorism in Perspective in State of the Union twitter:description: But his message was muddled by events. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71dac24bc6c07e53/698878e5cd1bba1e7f6feecc/gettyimages-504722960.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Obama Puts Terrorism in Perspective in State of the Union > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=8e6ace12-7498-4fc8-b3fa-ff7d2fb09223&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes [Watch (HLS stream): State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/IYWlSLur.m3u8) (3:59)  _Published 2016-01-13. State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes_ by [Mark Thompson](https://time.com/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Jan 13, 2016 3:25 AM UTC State of the Union in Under 4 Minutes by [Mark Thompson](https://time.com/author/mark-thompson/) ## Mark Thompson Jan 13, 2016 3:25 AM UTC President Obama basically told the nation to take a “chill pill” over the threat posed to Americans by ISIS and other terrorists in his final State of the Union address Tuesday night. “Over-the-top claims that this is World War III just play into their hands,” Obama said. “Masses of fighters on the back of pickup trucks and twisted souls plotting in apartments or garages pose an enormous danger to civilians and must be stopped. But they do not threaten our national existence.” Echoing the views of most non-politicized U.S. terrorism experts, he urged the nation to keep terror attacks in perspective. The priority, they say, is to keep nuclear weapons away from terrorists and deny them the ability to launch 9/11-like attacks. But smaller-scale terror, like the killing of 14 Americans in San Bernardino, California, Dec. 2 by a husband-wife team of radicalized Muslims, may be impossible to prevent. While Obama may have the facts on his side, people’s irrational fears often overwhelm facts. It’s the politician’s job to acknowledge that fear, while harnessing it to keep the facts that fuel it from getting any worse. That’s where Obama has fallen short. **Read More:** [_President Obama Puts Joe Biden in Charge of Curing Cancer_](http://time.com/4178412/cancer-state-of-the-union-barack-obama-sotu/) His message was muddled as Iran held 10 U.S. sailors as he spoke. Iran seized them several hours before the speech, after their two patrol craft apparently drifted into Iranian territorial waters near Iran’s Farsi Island in the middle of the northern Persian Gulf. The Obama Administration said it had assurances from Tehran that the sailors and their boats would soon be released. Obama didn’t mention them in his address. Calming fears of terrorism remains a challenge. Obama erred, at least politically, when he called ISIS a “JV team” two years ago—before it started beheading Americans—and said it was “contained” just before the terror attacks in Paris and California killed 144. Americans’ preoccupation with terrorism, while understandable, stands in marked contrast to their toleration for other kinds of violent death. In 2014, 32,675 U.S. residents died in highway accidents, 33,599 died by firearms—and 17 were killed in terror attacks on U.S. soil. That preoccupation can warp public attention and investment—and makes an over-reaction (_cf.,_ the 2003 invasion of Iraq) more likely if another major terror attack were to occur.  SMART “Public opinion poll data show that the United States suffers a long-term, routinized, mass anxiety—or at least a sense of concern—about terrorism that has shown little sign of waning in the years since 2001,” terrorism analysts John Mueller and Mark Stewart [wrote](https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/2015-12-10/terrorism-american-psyche) last month in _Foreign Affairs_. “Although other issues—particularly economic ones—often crowded out terrorism as a topic of daily concern, terrorism has won an apparently permanent space in the American mind.” By most accounts the world, in fits and starts, is becoming more peaceful. Put bluntly: you have less chance of dying in war today than in the past. But such reassurances can be fleeting. Sure, the Atlantic and Pacific oceans acted as walls against invaders for most of the nation’s history. And the advent of nuclear weapons 70 years ago stayed the hands of nation-states when it came to warring against one another.  Max Roser But terrorism—designed to inflict fright—is a different beast. First, because of its relatively small scale, it can be unleashed nearly anywhere, against nearly anyone. Terrorism doesn’t target soldiers on the battlefield—who, by and large, are young men who know their mission is dangerous. Instead, terrorism targets civilians, including children, going about their daily lives. It’s that jarring juxtaposition—the idea that one isn’t truly safe, anywhere—that lets terrorism pack a punch far above its throw-weight class. The turning point in the U.S. attitude toward terror, justifiably, was 9/11\. For most Americans, the attacks that day came clear out of the blue, raining horror on a U.S. public who believed that such violence, when it happened, took place in troubled lands far away, like the Middle East. The willingness of the perpetrators to die in their lust to kill surprised, and scared, many Americans. While that fright has ebbed and flowed, it hasn’t gone away, and surges anew in the wake of terror attacks. **Read More:** [_Read the Full Transcript of Obama’s Final State of the Union_](http://time.com/4178279/state-union-transcript-2016/) Following the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon—and a hijacked airliner brought down in rural Pennsylvania by passengers whose delayed takeoff let them learn of their grim fate—Americans were filled with a sense of foreboding that more major attacks were all but inevitable. But that hasn’t happened. The 9/11 hijackers fired vulnerable U.S. airliners into defenseless U.S. buildings and killed nearly 3,000\. In other words, the only way they could carry out their plot was if they outfitted themselves with U.S. equipment. Following the attacks, local, state and federal governments have built, or bolstered, defenses against future terror strikes. There hasn’t been a similar attack on U.S. soil—fingers crossed—in nearly 15 years. That’s the key fact to keep in mind, amid the fusillade of fear-mongering the 2016 presidential campaign has already unleashed. ## Transcript Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, Members of Congress, My Fellow Americans. Tonight marks the eighth year that I've come here to report on the State of the Union. And for this final one, I'm gonna try to make it a little shorter. I know some of you are antsy to get back to Iowa. I've been there. [ LAUGH ] I'll be shaking hands afterwards if you want some tips. But for my final address to this chamber, I wanna focus on the next five years, the next ten years. And four big questions That I believe we as a country have to answer. First, how do we give everyone a fair shot at opportunity and security in this new economy? How do we make technology work for us and not against us? How do we keep America safe and lead the world without becoming its policeman? How can we make our politics reflect What's best in us and not what's worst. The United States of America right now has the strongest, most durable economy in the world. We're in the middle of the longest streak of private sector job creation in history. More than 14 million new jobs, the strongest two years of job growth since the 1990s, Our unemployment rate cut in half. Priority number one is protecting the American people and going after terrorist networks. [ APPLAUSE ] The United States of America is the most powerful nation on Earth. Period. [ APPLAUSE ] When you come after Americans, we go after you and it may take time but we have long memories and our reach has no limits Our foreign policies to be focussed on threat from ISIS and Al- Qaeda but it can't stop there. The world will look to us to help solve these problems and our answer needs to be more than tough talk. War calls to corporate bombs [ INAUDIBLE ]. We also can't Try to take over and rebuild every country that falls into crisis. But on issues of global concern, we will mobilize the world to work with us. And make sure other countries pull their weight. Leadership means a wise application of military power. And rallying the world behind causes that are right. The future we want. Opportunity and security for our families, a rising standard of living, a sustainable peaceful planet for our kids. But I can't do these things on my own. So my fellow Americans, whatever you may believe, Whether you prefer one party or no party, whether you supported my agenda or fought as hard as you could against it, our collected futures depends on your willingness to uphold your duties as a citizen. To vote. But I can promise that a little over a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I will be right there with you as a citizen. Inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that helped America travel so far. That's the America I know. that's the country we love. Clear eyed, big hearted, undaunted by challenge. Optimistic, that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word. [ APPLAUSE ] That's what makes me so hopeful about our future. I believe in change because I believe in you, the American people. And that's why I stand here as confident as I have ever been that the state of our union [ APPLAUSE ] Is strong. [ APPLAUSE ] Thank you. God bless. [ APPLAUSE ] God bless the United States of America. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4178403/state-of-the-union-terrorism/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4178403/state-of-the-union-terrorism/"},"headline":"Obama Puts Terrorism in Perspective in State of the Union","datePublished":"2016-01-13T03:25:46.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-05T08:40:42.463Z","description":"But when it comes to being scared, fear trumps facts","url":"https://time.com/4178403/state-of-the-union-terrorism/","keywords":["state of the union","Military","Barack Obama","Obama","Terrorism","State of the Union 2016"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71dac24bc6c07e53/698878e5cd1bba1e7f6feecc/gettyimages-504722960.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Thompson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-thompson/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt71dac24bc6c07e53/698878e5cd1bba1e7f6feecc/gettyimages-504722960.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GettyImages-504722960","caption":"WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 12: President Barack Obama delivers his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill January 12, 2016 in Washington, D.C. 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