In his speech before hundreds of foreign officials gathered from around the world for a summit on countering violent extremism, President Barack Obama called for a global effort to focus on the root causes of extremism in groups like ISIS and al Qaeda.
The President’s speech at the State Department Thursday morning harkened back to remarks he made at the United Nations General Assembly last fall, when he urged communities across the Islamic world to provide more opportunities for young people who may be attracted to terrorist organizations.
“We all have a responsibility to ensure the security, the prosperity and the human rights of our citizens,” Obama said Thursday. “We are here today because we are united against the scourge of violent extremism and terrorism.”
A senior administration official said Obama would “call on the international community to continue to take meaningful steps to combat violent extremism, working independently and together, in the run up to this year’s General Assembly” in his address Thursday.
“It is time for the world — especially Muslim communities — to explicitly, forcefully, and consistently reject the ideology of organizations like al Qaeda and ISIL,” Obama said in his remarks to the U.N. General Assembly last September.
In a speech to the White House countering violent extremism summit Wednesday, Obama defended his decision not to use terms like “Islamic terrorism” in his rhetoric on ISIS and al Qaeda, saying the U.S. is “not at war with Islam.”
“They are not religious leaders. They’re terrorists,” Obama said about ISIL and al Qaeda’s efforts to position themselves as warriors for the Muslim faith.
Republican Senators Ted Cruz and Lindsay Graham, and even a few Democrats, such as Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, have criticized the President’s careful language on the topic.
Tommy Vietor, a former national security spokesman for the Obama administration blamed the media for focusing on an “ancillary” debate over the president’s rhetoric.
“It’s distracting from any real policy discussion,” Vietor said. “It’s smart policy to try and use every tool at our disposal to diminish their capacity to recruit new fighters or financial supporters,” he added on the summit’s emphasis on preventing extremism.
During the summit’s sessions at the White House Wednesday, administration officials gathered with Muslim-American community and law enforcement leaders to discuss strides made in countering extremism in Boston, Los Angeles, and Minneapolis where pilot programs are in place.
Several participants from mosques in those cities complained so-called CVE (Countering Violent Extremism) programs open the door to increased surveillance in the Muslim-American communities.
Michael Downing, a deputy chief and the commanding officer of the Los Angeles Police Department, said CVE programs are aimed at turning at-risk youth away from the allure of jihadists lurking in social media online.
“This has nothing to do with intelligence. It has nothing to do with surveillance. This is about developing healthier, resilient communities,” Downing said in an interview outside of the summit.
Abdisalam Adam , a Somali immigrant and Imam from St. Paul, Minnesota, told CNN groups like ISIS and al Qaeda do not reflect the Islamic faith.
“I think there’s a problem. I mean, I’m not going to deny that people of the Muslim faith are doing the wrong things. I’m not responsible for their actions, and that should be very clear to all Americans and to everyone,” said Abdisalam Adam, an Imam from St. Paul, Minnesota.