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President Barack Obama will deliver his first State of the Union address tonight before Congress. The economy and healthcare reform are sure to be high on the President’s agenda. But he will also likely focus on counter terrorism measures. The World’s Jason Margolis tells us what the President might say, and what some counter terrorism experts say he should say. Download MP3

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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman, this is The World.  President Obama delivers his State of the Union address before Congress tonight.  It’s an important speech for the President.  The White House says he’ll be looking to address public anger over the economy and the now stalled heath care reform push.  But President Obama is also likely to spend some time talking about his administration’s counter-terrorism efforts.  Here’s more on that from The World’s Jason Margolis.

JASON MARGOLIS: When President Obama addressed Congress for the first time last February he mentioned the words terrorism or terrorist just three times.  He’ll use those words more tonight for two reasons says Dartmouth government professor Linda Fowler.  First, the failed Christmas Day bomber reminded people about the risks of terrorism.  Second, Fowler says fighting terrorism is a good topic for a State of the Union.

LINDA FOWLER:  Unfortunately the State of the Union has just degenerated into one of these where the opposition party sits in surly silence on it’s hands and the party that shares the party of the President stands up and cheers wildly at everything.  And it’s a very artificial situation.   But being tough on terrorism is something that everybody would have to stand up and applaud for.

JASON MARGOLIS: Tonight’s speech may have the usual elements of theater, but the State of the Union still matters to counter-terrorism experts like Eric Rosenbach.  Rosenbach directs the Belfer Center for International Affairs at Harvard.

ERIC ROSENBACH:  I think the State of the Union is important, particularly for national security issues because you see the themes and the most important items that the President wants to emphasize to the American public.

JASON MARGOLIS: Rosenbach says tonight’s speech serves as an outline as the President’s national security priorities looking forward.  The speech is also a chance for the President to look back, to highlight the administration’s recent successes says Michael Jacobson at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

MICHAEL JACOBSON:  I think you’ll hear some about the progress in tackling the terrorist threat and in dismantling some of the terrorist networks.  I think you’ll probably also hear about some of the ratcheting back of some of the practices used during the Bush era.

JASON MARGOLIS: Regarding the failed Christmas Day bomber, Jacobson expects the President to point out the gaps his administration uncovered in the U.S. intelligence community.

MICHAEL JACOBSON: And I think you’ll hear the President say that they have identified what those gaps are and that they are moving aggressively to try to fix them.

JASON MARGOLIS: On that topic Eric Rosenbach adds that the President will also likely emphasize another point he’s made before.

ERIC ROSENBACH:  That the United States does not want to sacrifice the things that made America a great country.  In the past we may have gone too far and infringing on the rule of law.  We need to stay true to our beliefs and that’s a message that really has resonated well with a lot of Americans.  I think he needs to emphasize that again.

JASON MARGOLIS: Tonight the President will mention the usual nations we’re accustomed to hearing about, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.  You can bet on that.  But Mr. Obama will also likely mention a country almost never acknowledged during a State of the Union address, Yemen.  Gregory Johnson is a Yemen expert at Princeton.  He says the approach to combating Al Qaeda in Yemen is very different than the situation in Iraq or Afghanistan.  He says the President shouldn’t lump the three nations together, but Johnson adds, tonight is not the night to explain the nuances of U.S. strategy in Yemen.

GREGORY JOHNSON:  I don’t really think that the State of the Union is the appropriate forum to really get into explaining Yemen to the American people nor is, am I certain, is the individual who is supposed to do that as opposed to just mentioning that Yemen is obviously a significant priority for the United States as it has been for the past several years and that his administration will continue to pay very close attention to what’s going on.

JASON MARGOLIS: One security topic the President isn’t likely to dwell on is Drones.  Although unmanned Drones have become a cornerstone of the U.S. anti-terrorism strategy, the President probably won’t say much about the program tonight simply because the U.S. doesn’t officially acknowledge Drone strikes in Pakistan or Yemen.  For The World, I’m Jason Margolis.

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See also

• February 3, 2010 -- Radicalized at a British university?
• January 28, 2010 -- Yemen and national security
• January 8, 2010 -- “We are at war”
• January 7, 2010 -- The President’s report on Flight 253