The President's remarks totally contradicts what the CIA briefed today on the current status of ISIS. The continual downplaying of "ISIL" as he refers to them is sickening. Why is he so reluctant to call it radical Islam? Does he want them to take America apart? I think so. What say you? Am I wrong?
Why do the semantics of it matter? Why does he not call Christians that blow up churches, radical Christians? You know, those guys that commit more terrorist acts on US soil, than anyone else. He answered that ignorant question. If you think he wants them to take America apart, then you have went way past stupid. We get it, you hate Obama. I'll post his answer...
"What exactly would using this label accomplish? What exactly would it change? Would it make ISIS less committed to trying to kill Americans? Would it bring in more allies? Is there a military strategy that is served by this? The answer is none of the above. Calling a threat by a different name does not make it go away. This is a political distraction."
"In refusing to use the term 'radical Islam,' Obama was following a precedent set by his Republican predecessor, George W. Bush, who said after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that 'ours is not a campaign against the Muslim faith. Ours is a campaign against evil.' "
"So, someone seriously thinks that we don't know who we're fighting? If there's anyone out there who thinks we're confused about who our enemies are, that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists who ... we've taken off the battlefield. If the implication is that those of us up here and the thousands of people around the country and around the world who are working to defeat ISIL aren't taking the fight seriously, that'd come as a surprise to those who've spent these last 7 1/2 years dismantling al-Qaida in the FATA, for example — including the men and women in uniform who put their lives at risk, and the special forces that I ordered to get [Osama] bin Laden and are now on the ground in Iraq and in Syria. They know full well who the enemy is."
"Groups like ISIL and al-Qaida want to make this war a war between Islam and America, or between Islam and the West. They want to claim that they are the true leaders of over a billion Muslims around the world who reject their crazy notions. They want us to validate them, by implying that they speak for those billion-plus people, that they speak for Islam. That's their propaganda. That's how they recruit. And if we fall into the trap of painting all Muslims with a broad brush, and imply that we are at war with an entire religion, then we are doing the terrorists' work for them."
Recalling 7 1/2 years of trying to combat terrorism, Obama said, "Not once has an adviser of mine said, 'Man, if we really use that phrase, we're going to turn this whole thing around.' Not once."
"It makes Muslim Americans feel like their government is betraying them. It betrays the very values America stands for. We've gone through moments in our history before when we acted out of fear, and we came to regret it. We've seen our government mistreat our fellow citizens. And it has been a shameful part of our history. This is a country founded on basic freedoms — including freedom of religion. We don't have religious tests here. Our founders, our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, are clear about that. And if we ever abandon those values, we would not only make it a lot easier to radicalize people here and around the world, but we would have betrayed the very things we are trying to protect: the pluralism and the openness, our rule of law, our civil liberties. The very things that make this country great, the very things that make us exceptional. And then the terrorists would have won. And we cannot let that happen. I will not let that happen."
