Intentional Business Times:

U.S. President Barack Obama refused to consider it a “religious war” to fight against terrorism. He continued to avoid the phrase “Islamic extremism” as he said that the majority of Muslims “reject” such an ideology.

Obama said that he would not give a religious colour to the war against terrorism. He warned against the danger of “overinflating” the threat of terrorist organisations. He added that the United States should align itself with the majority of Muslims who disapproved of terror groups like al Qaeda and Islamic State. He said that the most of the Muslims reject the radical views of those organisations.

The U.S. president was talking to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria who referred to Sen. Lindsey Graham’s worry that Obama did not admit it was a religious war. He also mentioned that the White House was accused of avoiding the term “Islamic terrorists.” He asked Obama if it was a war against radical Islam.

Obama said that it was an element growing out of Muslim communities in certain parts of the world that had perverted the religion. He called it a “nihilistic, violent, almost medieval interpretation of Islam.” “But it is absolutely true that I reject a notion that somehow that creates a religious war because the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject that interpretation of Islam,” Obama said, “They don’t

MORE