Obama sees terror threat reduced to pre-9/11 level

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FILE – In this May 23, 2013, file photo President Barack Obama is seen at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington during a speech in which he sought to refine and recalibrate his counterterrorism strategy, and asserted that al-Qaida is "on the path to defeat." Some call it wishful thinking, but Obama has all but declared an end to the global war on terror. He is not claiming final victory over extremists who still seek to kill Americans and other Westerners, but he is steering the country away from what he calls an equally frightening threat: a country in a state of perpetual war. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

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Obama sees terro... FILE – In this May 23, 2013, file photo President Barack Obama is seen at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington during a speech in which he sought to refine and recalibrate his counterterrorism strategy, and asserted that al-Qaida is "on the path to defeat." Some call it wishful thinking, but Obama has all but declared an end to the global war on terror. He is not claiming final victory over extremists who still seek to kill Americans and other Westerners, but he is steering the country away from what he calls an equally frightening threat: a country in a state of perpetual war. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Kerry makes sub-... U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, and Ethiopian Foreign Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom attend a joint press conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, May 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Jim Young, Pool)
Community outrea... FILE - In this April 26, 2013, file photo police officers stand by as Muslims leave the Islamic Society of Boston mosque in Cambridge, Mass., which was attended occasionally by Tamerlan Tsarnaev for Friday prayers, according to Islamic Society of Boston leaders. Within hours of the blasts at the Boston marathon, government officials and members of Boston’s Muslim community called each other, offering assistance. Representatives from the Justice and Homeland Security departments offered support to Muslim communities in case they suffered backlash or threats, though it would be days before law enforcement connected the suspected bombers to a violent interpretation of Islam. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty, File)
Key senators tig... FILE - In this March 18, 2013, file photo, Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, holds a hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee about immigrant women and immigration reform on Capitol Hill in Washington. For all the soothing words she heard from fellow Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hirono never had a chance to win a relatively modest change to far-reaching immigration legislation. Instead, the hidden hand of the bipartisan Gang of Eight reached out and rejected her attempt to create an immigration preference for close relatives of citizens with an extreme hardship _ the same force that had already derailed dozens other proposals deemed to violate the delicate trade-offs made by the bill’s bipartisan authors. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)
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Obama says natio... Fir Grove Elementary School fourth grader Brayden Corey, right, and grandmother Gayle Thomas of Roseburg, Ore. share a moment at the grave of Jackie Thomas, Brayden's grandfather and Gayle's husband at the Roseburg National Cemetery, Friday, May 24, 2013. Jackie Thomas served in the Marine Corps and died in 2010. Brayden Corey was at the cemetery to join classmates from Fir Grove Elementary School placing flags at headstones. (AP Photos/The News-Review, Michael Sullivan)
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Obama OKs honor ... President Barack Obama signs a bill designating the Congressional Gold Medal commemorating the lives of the four young girls killed in the 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing of 1963, Friday, May 24, 2013, in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington. From left are, Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Ala. sponsor of the bill; Lisa McNair; Thelma "Maxine" Pippen McNair mother of Denise McNair; Dianne Braddock sister of Carole Robertson; and Rev. Arthur Price Jr., pastor of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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Obama balances t... President Barack Obama pauses as his speech is interrupted by CODEPINK founder Medea Benjamin, Thursday, May 23, 2013, at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington. CODEPINK is a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end U.S. funded wars and occupations, to challenge militarism globally, and to redirect our resources into health care, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)
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Maine governor m... In this April 18, 2013 photo, Maine Gov. Paul LePage smiles during a ceremony at the Blaine House in Augusta, Maine. Maine Democratic legislative leaders say Gov. Paul LePage is threatening to move his office space out of the State House by July 1. LePage's decision stems from a disagreement over a television screen in the State House hall of flags outside LePage's office. LePage on Thursday, May 23, 2013 accused Democrats of a pattern of "toxic" censorship, noting that Democrats declined to let him speak at a recent budget committee meeting. (AP Photo/Pat Wellenbach)
Obama sees narro... President Barack Obama continues to speaks about national security, Thursday, May 23, 2013, at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, as CODEPINK founder Medea Benjamin of Code Pink shouted at him from the back of the auditorium. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
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