Obama rejects notion west in war with Islam

WASHINGTON (Pajhwok): US President Barack Obama on Thursday said that the notion that the west is at war with Islam is an ugly lie and that organizations like Al Qaeda and ISIS are trying their best to seek legitimacy in the name of Islam.

“The notion that the West is at war with Islam is an ugly lie. And all of us, regardless of our faith, have a responsibility to reject it,” Obama said in his address to the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism, which is being attended by representatives from more than 70 countries.

The Afghan delegation at the Summit is being led by the Minister of the Hajj and Religious Affairs, Faiz Mohammad Usmani.

“We have to confront the warped ideologies espoused by terrorists like Al Qaida and ISIL, especially their attempt to use Islam to justify their violence. These terrorists are desperate for legitimacy. And all of us have a responsibility to refute the notion that groups like ISIL somehow represent Islam, because that is a falsehood that embraces the terrorists’ narrative,” Obama said.

At the same time, Obama said that the world must acknowledge that groups like Al Qaida and ISIL were deliberately targeting their propaganda to Muslim communities, particularly Muslim youth.

“Muslim communities, including scholars and clerics, therefore have a responsibility to push back not just on twisted interpretations of Islam, but also on the lie that we are somehow engaged in a clash of civilizations; that America and the West are somehow at war with Islam or seek to suppress Muslims, or that we are the cause of every ill in the Middle East,” he said.

Obama said one the international community must remain unwavering in its fight against terrorist organizations. “And in Afghanistan, our coalition is focused on training and assisting Afghan forces, and we’ll continue to conduct counterterrorism missions against the remnants of Al Qaida in the tribal regions,” he said.

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