Obama: They're Not 'Islamic' Terrorists

President Obama today elaborated on why you'll never catch him referring to "Islamic terrorists." Doing so would give them too much credit, said the president at a White House summit on violent extremism. "No religion is responsible for terrorism—people are responsible for violence and terrorism," Obama said, as quoted by USA Today. Again and again, he stressed the point:

• "We are not at war with Islam—we are at war with people who have perverted Islam."

• "They 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."
• "The terrorists do not speak for a billion Muslims who reject their ideology. They no more represent Islam than any madman who kills innocents in the name of God represents Christianity or Judaism or Buddhism or Hinduism."

Obama, however, also stressed the need to be vigilant on the hunt for extremists, adding that Muslim leaders "need to do more to discredit the notion that our nations are determined to suppress Islam," reports CNN. For an opposing view on the president's word choice, see this op-ed in the New York Post headlined "Say it, Obama: Islamic." (More President Obama stories.)