Obama urges Trump not to permit use of torture to get info from prisoners

US President Barack Obama said Tuesday that progress has been achieved in the war against international terror although the threat persists, and called on his successor, Donald Trump, not to allow the use of torture to extract information from prisoners. Obama made the comment at MacDill Air Force Base in Florida in his last national security speech before leaving office in January. The president said his foreign policy over the last eight years had been based on American values, particularly prohibiting torture of prisoners and reducing non-essential risk to US military and security forces. The president claimed that significant progress has been made in driving Islamic State from its bases in Syria, Iraq and Libya, as well as in reducing its ability to recruit fighters and to carry out terrorist attacks. However, he added that he did "not want to paint too rosy a picture", asserting that "in some form this violent extremism will be with us for years to come".