WASHINGTON – American President Barack Obama confirmed on Thursday, August 4, that American Muslim community remains a frontline against terrorism, praising their patriotic role either in military or public life.
“One of the reasons that we don’t have networks cells that are as active here as they are in certain parts of Europe is because the Muslim-American community in this country is extraordinarily patriotic and largely successful, fights in our military, and serves as our doctors and nurses,” Obama said in a news briefing in the Pentagon cited by CNS News.
“This is also why we work with the Muslim-American community — the values we affirm about their patriotism and their sacrifice, and our fellow feeling with them is so important.
“There are communities in which they are raising their kids with a love of country and a rejection of violence. That has to be affirmed consistently. If we screw that up, then we are going to have bigger problems,” he added.
The US President comments come amidst a rising anger over disparaging comments by Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump against the parents of an American Muslim captain who was killed in 2004.
At the beginning of his remarks, Obama said that war against the so-called Islamic State was not limited to the battlefield.
Saying that the group’s “twisted ideology” and “phony claims” must also be defeated, he made the point that Muslims are both victims of those who embrace “violent extremism” as well as “partners” in fighting it.
“[W]e’re going to keep working with partners, including Muslim countries and communities, especially online, to expose ISIL for what they are — murderers who kill innocent people, including Muslim families and children as they break the Ramadan fast, and who set off bombs in Medina near the Prophet’s Mosque, one of the holiest sites in Islam,” he said.
“Moreover, we refuse to let terrorists and voices of division undermine the unity and the values of diversity and pluralism that keep our nation strong.”
He also praised American Muslims who risk their life for freedom.
“One of the reasons that America’s armed forces are the best in the world is because we draw on the skills and the talents of all of our citizens, from all backgrounds and faiths, including patriotic Muslim Americans who risk and give their lives for our freedom.
“And I think the entire world was inspired this past Sunday when Muslims across France joined their Catholic neighbors at Mass, and in a moving display of solidarity, prayed together. The greeting they extended to each other has to be the message we echo in all of our countries in all of our communities — peace be with you, and also with you.”