War on IS not aimed at any particular religion, says Obama

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Sunday 22 Nov 2015 - 18:27 Makkah mean time-10-2-1437 US President Obama (Image from Internet) Kuala Lumpur (IINA) – U.S. President Barack Obama said the United States will eventually defeat the Islamic State (IS) and its "twisted ideology" but its war on terror is not aimed at any particular religion, BERNAMA reported. "The U.S. cannot be at war with any religion because the country itself is made up of people from multiple religions, which over the years has strengthened its foundation," he said at a media conference here on Sunday, after attending the 27th ASEAN Summit. "We will not give in to fear or turn on each other or treat someone differently just because of their religion, race or background. It is a betrayal of our values and feeds on IS propaganda,” Obama said. He stressed that the U.S. will continue to work with its allies worldwide – from France to countries in the region including Malaysia – to fight and defeat IS, which recently claimed responsibility for the Paris terror attacks on November 13 that killed 129 people. Describing the terror group as "a bunch of killers", Obama said IS will not succeed in sowing fear in the minds of the people or make people forget the values they hold. He reiterated that the U.S. and its coalition will together strive to cut off financing to the terror group, hunt down their leaders, dismantle their networks and supply lines. "We will eventually defeat them," he said, adding that peace and harmony will prevail against the value of hatred and discrimination as propagated by the terror group. Obama said that to-date more than 65 countries globally, including Malaysia, have joined hands in the U.S.-led coalition against IS. He noted that Malaysia would have a counter-messaging center to combat the spread of IS ideology, similar to the one already operational in the United Arab Emirates. “This is in addition to efforts rendered by countries such as Saudi Arabia and Italy in disabling and dismantling the spread of influence by IS and its sympathizers,” he added. AB/IINA