President Obama said Friday there is no specific, credible terrorist threat against the U.S. over the holiday season, but admitted that terrorist plots have become more difficult to uncover and thwart than they were in the past.
"It is very difficult for us to detect lone wolf plots," Obama said at a press conference intended to ease the public’s concerns about his terrorism strategy in the wake of deadly attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, California by terrorists linked to ISIS.
Obama compared the recent wave of jihadist terrorist attacks to mass shootings, which are executed with little advance warning.
"You don't always see it. They're not always communicating publicly. If you're not catching what they say publicly, then it becomes a challenge," Obama said.
"Essentially you have ISIL trying to encourage or induce somebody who, you know, may be prey to this kind of propaganda. And it becomes more difficult to see," Obama said.
On the bright side, Obama claimed that lone wolf terrorists are "less likely to be able to carry out large, complex attacks"—even though San Bernardino jihadis Syed Farook and Tashfeen Malik had been narrowly thwarted from pulling off exactly such an attack. The couple plotted their attack over the course of many months, stockpiling thousands of rounds of ammunition and running a bomb factory out of their home.
Obama was reportedly slow to understand the extent of the public’s fears about terrorism following the Paris and San Bernardino attacks but has devoted several public addresses to terrorism in recent weeks.
Obama has not altered his military strategy to contain terrorist groups like ISIS despite a spike in global terrorism in the past year.