Barack Obama; "Protecting Our Security and Our Values"

A few key lines:

*"my single most important responsibility as President is to keep the American people safe"

*"We know that al Qaeda is actively planning to attack us again. We know that this threat will be with us for a long time, and that we must use all elements of our power to defeat it."

*"I believe with every fiber of my being that in the long run we also cannot keep this country safe unless we enlist the power of our most fundamental values."

*"I have studied the Constitution as a student; I have taught it as a teacher; I have been bound by it as a lawyer and legislator. I took an oath to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief, and as a citizen, I know that we must never – ever – turn our back on its enduring principles for expedience sake."

*"We uphold our most cherished values not only because doing so is right, but because it strengthens our country and keeps us safe."

*"...too often – our government made decisions based upon fear rather than foresight, and all too often trimmed facts and evidence to fit ideological predispositions."

*"I know some have argued that brutal methods like water-boarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more."

*"...rather than keep us safer, the prison at Guantanamo has weakened American national security"

*"...I can tell you that the wrong answer is to pretend like this problem will go away if we maintain an unsustainable status quo."

*"...we will be ill-served by some of the fear-mongering that emerges whenever we discuss this issue."

*"...we are not going to release anyone if it would endanger our national security, nor will we release detainees within the United States who endanger the American people"

*"...nobody has ever escaped from one of our federal 'supermax' prisons, which hold hundreds of convicted terrorists."

*"...when feasible, we will try those who have violated American criminal laws in federal courts – courts provided for by the United States Constitution."

*"... Nothing would be gained by the release of these photos that matters more than the lives of our young men and women serving in harm’s way."

*"...In all of the areas that I have discussed today, the policies that I have proposed represent a new direction from the last eight years. To protect the American people and our values, we have banned enhanced interrogation techniques. We are closing the prison at Guantanamo. We are reforming Military Commissions, and we will pursue a new legal regime to detain terrorists. We are declassifying more information and embracing more oversight of our actions, and narrowing our use of the State Secrets privilege."

For the complete speech, please click here. Thanks.