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Obama: ‘We will defeat’ terrorists

On the day he was inaugurated, Barack Obama sent a message to potential adversaries that just because a Democrat is running the show doesn’t mean the U.S. will go soft.

In a speech minutes after he took the oath of office and became the 44th president of the United States, Obama said, “For those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken, you cannot outlast us and we will defeat you.”

That line drew bipartisan applause from members of the House and Senate on the podium on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol before a sea of people that extended down the National Mall as far as the eye could see.

Multimedia:

See a panoramic view of the National Mall on Inauguration Day

Included in the audience were members of the Medal of Honor Society and some of their family members, representatives of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America who have been pushing Obama to make improvements in veterans programs and surviving members of the Tuskegee Airmen, who in World War II became America’s first black military aviators.

A group from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America had tickets to the inaugural but were turned away by security because of overcrowding. They managed to make it back to their Washington, D.C., office to watch the speech on TV.

Iraq war veteran Tom Tarantino, a former Army captain who served in Iraq in 2005, said he was “extremely impressed” by Obama’s speech, especially for its optimism and its strong statement about national security.

“He specifically stated we will not compromise our values and rights … for the sake of our security, which is something I liked to hear,” Tarantino said.

Obama said the U.S. had “faced down fascism and communism not just with missiles and tanks but with sturdy alliances and enduring convictions,” and that earlier leaders “understood that our power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please.”

He pledged to work on fostering greater cooperation and understanding with other nations. “We will begin to responsibly leave Iraq to its people and forge a hard-earned peace in Afghanistan,” he said. “With old friends and former foes, we will work tirelessly to lessen the nuclear threat and roll back the specter of a warming planet.”

Obama said he wished more Americans emulated current and former service members. “We honor them not only because they are guardians of our liberty but because they embody the spirit of services, a willingness to find meaning in something greater than themselves,” he said. “At this moment — a moment that will define a generation — it is precisely this spirit that must inhabit us all.”