US will not relent or waver, but 'defeat' al Qaeda and affiliates: Obama

Washington, Jan 26(ANI): The United States will relentlessly fight the ongoing war against terrorism until it defeats al Qaeda and their affiliates, President Barack Obama has said.

"We have sent a message from the Afghan border to the Arabian Peninsula to all parts of the globe: we will not relent, we will not waver, and we will defeat you," Obama remarked in his State of the Union Address at Washington.

He said that terror plots were being disrupted despite extremist organisations continuing to plan strikes on America.

"Of course, as we speak, al Qaeda and their affiliates continue to plan attacks against us. Thanks to our intelligence and law enforcement professionals, we are disrupting plots and securing our cities and skies," the president said.

"And as extremists try to inspire acts of violence within our borders, we are responding with the strength of our communities, with respect for the rule of law, and with the conviction that American Muslims are a part of our American family," he added.

Obama noted that the US had "also taken the fight to al Qaeda and their allies abroad", and that its troops had 'taken Taliban strongholds' in Afghanistan and trained Afghan Security Forces.

"Our purpose is clear - by preventing the Taliban from re-establishing a stranglehold over the Afghan people, we will deny al Qaeda the safe-haven that served as a launching pad for 9/11," he maintained

Obama credited "our heroic troops and civilians" for the fact that 'fewer Afghans' were under the control of the insurgency in the war-torn country. However, he admitted that there would be 'tough fighting ahead,' and the Afghan government would need to deliver better governance.

"But we are strengthening the capacity of the Afghan people and building an enduring partnership with them. This year, we will work with nearly 50 countries to begin a transition to an Afghan lead. And this July, we will begin to bring our troops home," he added, reiterating his decision to start US troops' withdrawal from July 2011.

Obama also said that the al Qaeda leadership was "under more pressure than at any point since 2001" in Pakistan.

"Their leaders and operatives are being removed from the battlefield. Their safe-havens are shrinking," the president added. (ANI)