POLITICS
Obama: U.S. 'Not at War with Islam'
2009-06-04 03:40am
President Barack Obama, speaking in Egypt Thursday, reiterating an earlier point that the U.S. is not at war with Islam and that the religion has been hijacked by a small group of violent extremists.
"The sweeping change brought by modernity and globalization led many Muslims to view the West as hostile to the traditions of Islam," Obama said.
"Violent extremists have exploited these tensions in a small but potent minority of Muslims. The attacks of September 11th, 2001 and the continued efforts of these extremists to engage in violence against civilians has led some in my country to view Islam as inevitably hostile..." he added.
Obama reiterated a point in his past speech in Turkey, noting, "In Ankara, I made clear that America is not - and never will be - at war with Islam. We will, however, relentlessly confront violent extremists who pose a grave threat to our security. "Because we reject the same thing that people of all faiths reject: the killing of innocent men, women, and children."
Obama also said the United States did not want to keep troops in Afghanistan.
"Make no mistake: We do not want to keep our troops in Afghanistan. We seek no military bases there. It is agonizing for America to lose our young men and women. It is costly and politically difficult to continue this conflict.
"We would gladly bring every single one of our troops home if we could be confident that there were not violent extremists in Afghanistan and now Pakistan," he said.
(c) 2009 Newsroom.