In the SOTU, Barack Obama again asserted that “we have put al-Qaida’s core leadership on a path to defeat.” But he then admitted that “the threat has evolved” and al-Qaida continues to “take root in different parts of the world.” Note the change in language from his 2012 campaign, when al-Qaida was supposedly “decimated.” Maybe even Obama can’t deny the reality that al-Qaida has taken back large swaths of Iraq, controls much of the insurgency in Syria, and is gaining all over the Middle East. Director of National Intelligence James Clapper testified that he can’t say al-Qaida “is any less” a threat today than it was in 2001. Obama has failed, but he’s too arrogant to admit it.