Hillary: ‘Islam Is Not Our Adversary’

Thursday at the Council on Foreign Relations, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton declared Islam was “not our adversary.”

Clinton said, “The bottom line is that we are in a contest of ideas against an ideology of hate, and we have to win. Let’s be clear, though. Islam is not our adversary. Muslims are peaceful and tolerant people and have nothing whatsoever to do with terrorism. The obsession in some quarters with a clash of civilization or repeating the specific words, radical Islamic terrorism isn’t just a distraction. It gives these criminals, these murderers, more standing than they deserve. It actually plays into their hands by alienating partners we need by our side. Our priority should be how to fight the enemy.”

“In the end it didn’t matter what kind of terrorist we called Bin Laden, it mattered that we killed Bin Laden,” she continued. “But we still can’t close our eyes to the fact that there is a distorted and dangerous stream of extremism within the Muslim world that continues to spread. Its adherents are relatively few in number but capable of causing profound damage, most especially to their communities throughout arc of instability that stretches from north and West Africa to Asia. Overlapping conflicts collapsing state structures, widespread corruption, poverty and repression have created openings for extremists to exploit.”

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