Washington: Asserting that Donald Trump’s ‘anti-Muslim’ rhetoric is “not the America we want”, United States President Barack Obama on Tuesday flayed the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s ‘dangerous’ mindset recalling moments where the U.S. government had acted out of fear and lived to regret it.
Addressing the media after his meeting with the National Security Council, the President ripped through Trump’s ‘Muslim ban’ rhetoric saying such a dangerous mindset will make Muslim Americans feel that their government is betraying them.
“For a while now, the main contribution of some of my friends on the other side of the aisle in the fight against ISIL, has been to criticise this administration and me for not using the phrase ‘radical Islam’. They tell us that we can’t beat ISIL until we call them radical Islamists. What exactly would using this label accomplish? What exactly would it change? Would it make ISIL less committed in trying to kill Americans? Would it bring in more allies? Is there a military strategy that is served by this?” the President questioned.
Asserting that this was simply a political distraction on Trump’s behalf, he added that calling a threat by a different name did not make the danger go away and that he had never faced a moment in his seven years of Presidency, where he was not able to pursue a strategy because of being unable to use the label ‘radical Islam’
“If there is anyone out there who thinks that we do not know who we are fighting and that we are confused about who our enemies are, that would come as a surprise to the thousands of terrorists who we have taken off the battlefield. We know who the enemy is There is no magic to the phrase ‘radical Islam’. It’s a political talking point, not a strategy,” the President said.
Highlighting the fact that groups like ISIL and Al Qaeda wanted to make the war between Islam and America or Islam and the west, Obama warned that “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 terrorist work for them.”
“That kind of yapping has not prevented folks across the government from doing their jobs. We are now seeing how dangerous this kind of mindset and thinking can be. We are seeing where this kind of rhetoric, sloppiness and loose talk about whom we fighting can lead us,” he added.
Affirming that “that’s not the America we want”, the President warned that it will make young Muslims around the world feel like no matter what they do, they will be under suspicion and under attack.
“We have gone through moments before where we have acted out of fear and regretted it. We have seen our government mistreat our fellow citizens. It’s been a shameful part of us history,” the President said. (ANI)