President Obama speaking Wednesday at a White House summit on "Countering Violent Extremism"
directly addressed an ongoing discussion about "the words we use to describe and frame" the security challenge posed by the Islamic State (aka ISIS and ISIL).
"So I want to be very clear about how I see it," Obama said, noting that al-Qaeda, and ISIS and groups like it are "desperate for legitimacy."
Here's some key excerpts:
We are not at war with Islam
They try to portray themselves as religious leaders—holy warriors in defense of Islam…and they propagate the notion that America and the West, generally, is at war with Islam...
We must never accept the premise that they put forward because it is a lie. Nor should we grant these terrorists the religious legitimacy that they seek.
They are not religious leaders, they're terrorists. And we are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.
No religion is responsible for terrorism
The terrorists do not speak for over a billion Muslims who reject their hateful ideology. They no more represent Islam than any mad man who kills innocents in the name of God represents Christianity or Judaism or Buddhism or Hinduism. No religion is responsible for terrorism, people are responsible for violence and terrorism.
There is no inherent clash of civilizations
So just as leaders like myself reject the notion that terrorists like ISIL genuinely represent Islam, Muslim leaders need to do more to discredit the notion that our nations are determined to suppress Islam—that there is an inherent clash of civilizations. Everybody has to speak up very clearly that, no matter what the grievance, violence against innocents doesn't defend Islam or Muslims, it damages Islam and Muslims.
We can't shy away from these discussions
That's the first challenge: we've got to discredit these ideologies. We have to tackle them head on. We can't shy away from these discussions. Too often folks are understandably sensitive about addressing some of these root issues. But we have to talk about them honestly and clearly. And the reason I believe we have to do so is because I'm so confident that, when the truth is out, we'll be successful.