Americans link violence with Muslims, but Obama says ISIL is not Islam
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria is America’s enemy, not Islam, President Obama stated in his national address Wednesday night laying out a plan to destroy the terrorist organization.
Obama joined American Muslim organizations and other writers insisting that to slaughter innocent people is to sacrifice a claim to what the Pew Research Center says is the world’s fastest-growing religion. But polls indicate many Americans don’t draw a distinction between Islam and terrorist groups like ISIL whose members claim to be faithful Muslims.
“Now let’s make two things clear: ISIL is not ‘Islamic.’