Obama's message to Americans: Insulting Muslims is wrong and harms the US

US President Barack Obama delivered his last State of the Union address to both houses of Congress, in which he tried to paint a bright future for the United States of America as it enters the last year of its term, reports the Patria News Agency.

At the same time, he accused Republican presidential candidates of anti-Muslim rhetoric that has "betrayed" America's identity, agencies report.

The State of the Union address was one of Obama's last opportunities to capture the attention of millions of Americans and highlight the main achievements of his term before the media spotlight shifts to the candidates for his successor.

"I believe in change, because I believe in you. And that's why I stand here more confident than ever that our nation is strong," Obama said, rejecting criticism from Republican presidential candidates who claim the US economy is in bad shape and the prestige and strength of the United States in international relations are declining.

"Anyone who claims the US economy is in decline is selling fiction," Obama said.

According to the DPA agency, the speech did not contain many concrete political proposals, but Obama instead emphasized that congressmen and senators must address important issues in the future, regardless of who the next president will be.

In his opinion, these issues are: how to ensure economic opportunities for every American, how to use technology to serve people, how to maintain US security, and how to improve the political climate in the country.

Destroy Terrorist Networks

Speaking about foreign and security policy, Obama said the main priority is to "protect Americans and destroy terrorist networks," but he rejected comparisons of terrorist attacks to a world war, and emphasized that the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group "does not threaten the national existence of America.".

He also urged Americans not to fall for the lie that ISIL represents Islam, adding that members of that group should be considered what they are – "murderers and fanatics who must be found, captured, and destroyed.".

In a direct allusion to the leading Republican presidential candidate in November, Donald Trump, Obama said that insulting Muslims harms the United States and "betrays" the American identity.

"When politicians insult Muslims (...) it will not make us safer. It is simply wrong. It diminishes our standing in the eyes of the world. It makes it harder for us to achieve our goals," Obama said, Reuters reported.

He also welcomed the adoption of the global climate agreement in Paris in December, the nuclear agreement with Iran, and the successes in combating the Ebola epidemic in West Africa. He called on Congress to lift trade sanctions on Cuba and to approve the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement that the US agreed upon last year with twelve Pacific Rim countries.

"America has gone through great changes before – wars and crises, the arrival of immigrants, workers fighting for better conditions, human rights movements," Obama said.

"And each time there were those who told us we should fear the future – who claimed we should stop change, promising us that we would restore past glory if we just brought under control some group of people or some idea that threatened America. And each time we managed to overcome those fears," the US president emphasized.

Fix American Politics

In his speech, Obama directly called on Democratic and Republican congressmen and senators to overcome partisan divisions in order to "achieve a better future." It is within our reach, Obama said, but it will only be achieved if we "fix our politics.".

He also urged the American people not to fall victim to frustration, sectarianism, and hatred.

"We cannot afford to go down that path. It will not help us establish the economy we want, or the security we want, but more than anything, it is contrary to everything the world envies us for," he said.

Obama also announced that in the last year of his term, he will try to change the way the US manages its energy resources.

"I will continue to work on changing the way we manage our coal and oil resources, to better reflect all the costs we impose on our taxpayers and our planet," Obama concluded, writes balkans.aljazeera.net.