US President Barack Obama has urged his country to uphold its values in the fight against terrorism as he prepares to turn over control of the military to his successor Donald Trump.
In a final national security address to troops Tuesday in Tampa, Florida, Obama called on the United States to denounce discrimination and torture while respecting religious liberty and civil rights.
"We are, at our best, a nation that has been defined by hope and not fear," he said on Tuesday.
Obama spoke after meeting with members of the military at US Central Command, which oversees US operations in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, and US Special Operations Command.
Without mentioning Trump by name, Obama dismissed some of the controversial ideas put forward by the right-wing populist, reiterating that the United States does not impose religious tests, discriminate against Muslims or subject specific groups to greater scrutiny.
"We're a nation that believes freedom can never be taken for granted, and each of us has a responsibility to sustain it," he said. "That's what separates us from tyrants and terrorists."
With nearly eight years in office, Obama cited reduced US troop commitments in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Terrorist network al-Qaeda had been severely degraded with the loss of many of its top leaders, including Osama bin Laden, even as the threat morphed with the rise of the Islamic State movement, he said.
Despite a grinding civil war in Syria and a spate of terrorist attacks in the US and Europe, Obama maintained that the US-led international coalition is "breaking the back" of Islamic State forces, as the group loses territory.
He said the organization should be seen as "thugs and murderers," rather than an existential threat to democracy.
Later on Tuesday, Trump, a political novice, gave his own address centred on defence and foreign policy, telling a rally of supporters in Fayetteville, North Carolina, that he would focus on fighting terrorism after taking office on January 20.
"We will stop racing to topple foreign regimes that we know nothing about, that we shouldn't be involved with," he said. Instead our focus must be on defeating terrorism and destroying (the Islamic State movement). And we will."
Trump has vowed to halt aid to rebels fighting the Syrian government and its ally, Russia. He said that "any nation" that shared the goal of defeating Islamic State forces would "be our partner in this mission."
Obama called for a sustainable, long-term strategy against terrorism and warned against breaking from US adherence to international law.
"I must protect our people, but I also swore an oath to defend our constitution," Obama said. "Staying true to our traditions advances our security as well as our values."
He pointed to his move to prohibit torture, including waterboarding, a tactic that Trump at one point advocated, despite having backed away from the remarks after hearing different advice from his nominee for defence secretary, James Mattis.
