WASHINGTON - U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday highlighted the anti-terrorism fight and foreign aid policy in his first State of the Union address.
Trump said he had signed an order to reexamine the U.S. military detention policy and to keep open the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay.
“In the past, we have foolishly released hundreds and hundreds of dangerous terrorists, only to meet them again on the battlefield -- including the ISIS leader, (Abu Bakr) al-Baghdadi, who we captured, who we had, who we released,” Trump said, referring to the terror group by its other name, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria. “So today, I am keeping another promise,” he said. The president pledged to continue the anti-terrorism fight until the Islamic State (IS) was defeated.h   “When possible, we have no choice but to annihilate them. When necessary, we must be able to detain and question them. But we must be clear: Terrorists are not merely criminals. They are unlawful enemy combatants. And when captured overseas, they should be treated like the terrorists they are,” Trump said.
“I am also asking Congress to ensure that in the fight against ISIS and al-Qaida, we continue to have all necessary power to detain terrorists, wherever we chase them down, wherever we find them,” he said.
“In many cases, for them, it will now be Guantanamo,” Trump said.
Only 41 detainees now remain in the facility after hundreds of inmates were transferred to sites in the United States or sent to their home countries under President Barack Obama, who failed to close the prison center. (Xinhua)