WASHINGTON — President Obama outlined tighter rules for drone strikes and renewed efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay prison on Thursday, while calling on policymakers to rethink the nation's battle against terrorism.

The president discussed the war in Afghanistan, the attack on Benghazi and ongoing investigations of national security news leaks, and questioned the concept of the "global war on terror" that has prevailed since the strikes of Sept. 11, 2001.

"Our systematic effort to dismantle terrorist organizations must continue," Obama said during a 59-minute speech at National Defense University in Washington, D.C.

"But this war, like all wars, must end," he added. "That's what history advises. That's what our democracy demands."