President Obama: War on terrorism is not a religious war

Photo: REUTERS / Doug Mills / Pool

In an interview with CNN journalist Fareed Zakaria, President Barack Obama reiterated his long-standing stance that the current fight against terrorism is in no way a religious war. The President explained that an overwhelming majority in the Muslim community are against the radical ideology of terrorist groups such as ISIS and al Qaeda.

"I don't quibble with labels. I think we all recognize that this is a particular problem that has roots in Muslim communities. But I think we do ourselves a disservice in this fight if we are not taking into account the fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject this ideology," he said, in an interview at CNN.

President Obama added that Muslim communities are doing their part in rooting out these radical ideologies, and the use of improper labels could be detrimental in their efforts. He also advised that the United States align itself with the Muslim community to help them achieve this goal.

Republicans in the United States have recently expressed opposition to the President's stance. "We are in a religious war with radical Islamists. When I hear the President of the United States and his chief spokesperson failing to admit that we're in a religious war, it really bothers me," said Senator Lindsey Graham on Fox News.

Obama, for his part, downplayed the comments and said that they must be careful so as not to overinflate the actions of terrorists. He acknowledged that there are "terrible costs to terrorism", but the United States must respond in a way that will not undermine their values. "That means that we don't torture. It means that we don't approach this with a strategy of sending out occupying armies and playing whack-a-mole wherever a terrorist group appears because that drains our economic strength and it puts enormous burdens on our military," he said.

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