Obama offers condolences to Hollande over attack in Nice

President Obama called French President Francois Hollande Friday to offer condolences on the latest horrific terrorist attack, and the White House struggled to explain why such attacks are multiplying even as the administration is claiming success in the fight against the Islamic State.

“Our hearts are with the people of France” after the “sickening” attack in Nice, Mr. Obama said at a White House diplomatic reception. “This is a threat to all of us.”

“These terrorists are targeting and killing innocent people, including Muslims,” said Mr. Obama, who ordered U.S. flags lowered to half-staff to honor the victims. “We are going to destroy this vile terrorist organization.”

In a reference to Republican proposals to bar Muslim immigrants, Mr. Obama said, “We will win this fight by staying true to our values — freedoms of religion, of speech and assembly.”

“We cannot give in to fear or turn on each other or sacrifice our way of life,” the president said. “That’s exactly what the terrorists want. We should never do their work for them. The hatred and the violence of a few ultimately is no match for the love and decency and hard work of people of goodwill.”

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Mr. Obama also offered “significant security cooperation and any assistance that they need” to investigate the rampage in Nice, where a man driving a truck mowed down pedestrians on a seaside promenade, killing at least 84 people and injuring scores of others.

“We will be offering our strongest support to the people of France in this very difficult time,” Mr. Earnest said.

The attack, following others in recent weeks in Orlando, Florida; Istanbul, Turkey; Bangladesh and numerous other locations, has raised concerns that the Islamic State and other extremist groups are stepping up their suicide missions on an almost weekly basis.

Gary Berntsen, who was the CIA’s directorate of operations from 1982 to 2005, said on “Fox & Friends” Friday that the Islamic State will continue to carry out attacks as it loses territory in Iraq and Syria.

“I would see sort of an ’end of days’ scenario for them, that they will increase the lethality and the terror,” said Mr. Berntsen, who has endured Republican Donald Trump for president. “This is going to get very, very ugly. The president of the United States, as Newt Gingrich had stated, has failed in his responsibilities to defend the United States. He’s lost control of the Middle East. It’s in flames. And that’s what he will leave when he leaves office.”

Mr. Earnest said the extremist attacks are increasingly “lone-wolf” operations that are difficult to detect and prevent.

“The threat that we’re facing now is different,” he said. “They’re dangerous, they’re violent, and we need to dedicate significant resources to preventing them, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re quite concerned about it.”

He said the attacks such as Orlando and Nice are “materially different” from the large-scale operation that occurred on 9/11.

Mr. Earnest reiterated that Congress should approve a new authorization of military force against the Islamic State to show that the U.S. is united in the fight.

The U.S.-led coalition has conducted more than 13,000 air strikes against the extremist group in Syria and Iraq, and the administration says that the Islamic State has lost about 40 percent of its territory there in the past two years.