Antalya: Describing the global terror group Islamic State as "the face of evil", US President Barack Obama on Monday said Muslim community has to think about how we make sure that children are not being infected with this twisted notion that somehow they can kill innocent people and that that is justified by religion.
Addressing a press conference in Turkey, the US President said Muslims around the world -- religious leaders, political leaders, ordinary people -- have to ask very serious questions about how did these extremist ideologies take root, even if it’s only affecting a very small fraction of the population. It is real and it is dangerous. And it has built up over time, and with social media it has now accelerated.
“And I think there have been times where there has not been enough pushback against extremism. There’s been pushback -- there are some who say, well, we don’t believe in violence, but are not as willing to challenge some of the extremist thoughts or rationales for why Muslims feel oppressed. And I think those ideas have to be challenged,” Obama added.
The US President said Paris killings were a "terrible and sickening setback" in the fight against the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, ISIL and Daesh. But he insisted that the American-led strategy to "degrade and destroy" the militant group is working.
"ISIS is the face of evil," Obama said. "Our goal is to destroy this barbaric organisation."
Ruling out troops on ground as it would not help solve the terrorism problem, he said, "We have the right strategy and we are going to see it through".
The US President said military advisers have told him that ground troops "would be a mistake".
