Sunday on Fox News Channel’s “Fox News Sunday,” Department Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said it gives ISIS “dignity” to refer to them as Islamic.
When asked why the Obama administration will not acknowledge we are fighting Islamic extremism Johnson said, “Let me say this. In our engagements around the country, I do a lot of these myself in Muslim communities, Islamic cultural centers, the thing I hear from leaders in the Muslim community in this country is ‘ISIL is attempting to hijack my religion, our religion is about peace and brotherhood. ISIL is attempting to hijack that from us.’ They resent that. Most victims of ISIL are muslim. It seems to me to refer to ISIL as occupying any part of the islamic theology is playing on a battlefield that they would like us to be on. I think that to call them some form of Islam gives the group more dignity than it deserves.”
He added, “They [ISIS] want to become an Islamic state. And to call them Islamic, to call them any form of Islamic gives them too much dignity in my view and the view of a lot of Muslims around the world.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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