President Obama speaking at the Countering Violent Extremism Summit held in Washington, DC, said “We are not at war with Islam. We are at war with people who have perverted Islam.

He continued, “They (terrorists) try to portray themselves as religious leaders, holy warriors in defense of 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 are terrorists.”

He added, “We all know there is no one profile of a violent extremist or terrorist. There is no way to predict who will become radicalized.” “We are here at this summit because of the urgent threat from groups like al-Qaeda and ISIL and this week, we are focused on prevention,” he remarked.

Writing an Op-ED in Los Angeles Times previewing the summit, President Obama remarked, ‘Groups like al-Qaeda and ISIL promote a twisted interpretation of religion that is rejected by the overwhelming majority of the world’s Muslims. The world must continue to lift up the voices of Muslim clerics and scholars who teach the true peaceful nature of Islam. We can echo the testimonies of former extremists who know how terrorists betray Islam. We can help Muslim entrepreneurs and youths work with the private sector to develop social media tools to counter extremist narratives on the Internet. More broadly, groups like al-Qaeda and ISIL exploit the anger that festers when people feel that injustice and corruption leave them with no chance of improving their lives. The world has to offer today’s youth something better.’   »»» MeriNews (India)

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