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President Obama defends counterterrorism plan

President Obama spoke to an audience Tuesday at MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa.Monica Herndon/Tampa Bay Times/AP

TAMPA — Closing out two terms as a president at war, Barack Obama staunchly defended his counterterrorism strategy as one that rejected torture, held to American values, and avoided large-scale troop deployments, in an implicit effort to shape the strategy his successor might employ.

Obama came to MacDill Air Force Base, home to US Special Operations Command and Central Command, to give his final speech on national security. He delivered a strident argument for his reliance on drone strikes and commandos rather than ground wars like those launched in Iraq and Afghanistan by his predecessor. Obama emphasized the need for the United States to uphold its values by respecting the rights of Muslims and trying terror suspects in civilian courts.

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‘‘We can get these terrorists and stay true to who we are,’’ Obama said.

‘‘Rather than offer false promises that we can eliminate terrorism by dropping more bombs, or deploying more and more troops, or by fencing ourselves off from the rest of the world, we have to take a long view of the terrorist threat,’’ Obama told troops gathered in an airplane hangar. ‘‘We have to pursue a smart strategy that can be sustained.’’

In describing the nature of the threat after eight years of his leadership, Obama sought to strike a careful balance, arguing at once that ‘‘violent extremism will be with us for years to come’’ and that terrorists ‘‘don’t pose an existential threat’’ to the United States.

Though White House officials said the speech was planned before Donald Trump was elected, Obama’s remarks were clearly tailored to address some of Trump’s proposals.

In a warning that appeared aimed at Trump, who has called for barring Muslim immigrants temporarily, Obama said the United States doesn’t impose religious tests. He forcefully defended his decision to bar the use of torture against detainees while chastising Congress for refusing to let him shutter the Guantanamo detention center, which Obama called a ‘‘blot on our national honor.’’

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Amnesty International USA urged the incoming commander in chief to heed Obama’s advice, arguing that the speech ‘‘offers lessons for Trump.’’

Obama acknowledged he wasn’t entirely successful in what he has described as his push to take the nation off its wartime footing. He has been forced to rely on a more than 15-year-old law, passed by Congress after 9/11, as the legal underpinning for his campaign against the Islamic State group but pointed the finger at Congress for failing to update it.

‘‘Democracies should not operate in a state of permanently authorized war,’’ he said.

Trump has said little about how he intends to combat extremist groups, arguing that ambiguity and unpredictability are assets that deny the enemy a chance to plan ahead. Still, all signs suggest he’ll pursue a more muscular, military-driven approach, including his selection of hawkish aides for his team such as retired General Michael T. Flynn for national security adviser.

The president-elect has argued that Obama’s decision to withdraw the bulk of troops from Iraq created a power vacuum that allowed the Islamic State to form and seize territory. Obama said that was because Baghdad refused to sign a pact granting legal protections to US troops to stay, though officials have acknowledged privately over the years that Obama never forcefully pushed for such a deal.

Obama came into office telling a war-weary nation he would wind down two wars and prevent new ones. Obama said his use of drones, for example, had saved civilian lives, arguing that airstrikes would have been less precise and ground troops more deadly.

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‘‘You have to weigh the alternatives,’’ Obama said.

But Obama’s approach most notably came up short in Syria, where Obama long ago predicted that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would lose his grip on power. But Assad’s control appears stronger than it has in years while the brutal civil war rages on.

While US troop casualties declined significantly under Obama’s approach, the nation is now fighting in far more corners of the globe, which Obama attributed to a metastasizing extremist threat.

The United States is currently launching strikes in Syria, Somalia, Libya, and Yemen, according to a report to Congress the White House released this week. Additional US troops and assets are also in Jordan, Djibouti, Turkey, Egypt, and Cameroon to support counterterrorism missions, while other overseas operations remain classified.

Much of the counterterrorism mission is being carried out not by traditional ground troops who have traditionally done most of the fighting in US wars but by commandos such as the Army Delta Force and Navy SEALs. Their agility, advanced training, and light footprint make them attractive for fighting in places where the United States doesn’t want to get bogged down.

Before taking the stage for his speech, Obama met with top military leaders at the base, including General Raymond Thomas, who heads US Special Operations Command. He also told troops serving at the base that it had been the privilege of his lifetime to serve as their commander in chief.

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