In his State of the Union address, President Obama said that while “core al Qaeda” is “on a path to defeat,” threats are posed by al Qaeda affiliates and other extremists in Yemen, Somalia, Iraq, Mali, and elsewhere. He vowed that in Syria, his administration will “support the opposition that rejects the agenda of terrorist networks.” He threatened to veto any new Iran sanctions while negotiations with Iran on its nuclear program are underway. With regard to Afghanistan, he said that if the bilateral security agreement is signed, a small US force “could remain” in the country after 2014, with NATO allies, to focus on training and assisting Afghan forces and conducting counterterroism operations against “any remnants of al Qaeda.”
