Last week at the The Aspen Security Forum 2015 held by The Aspen Institute, Department of Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson said it is “critical” we do not refer to ISIS as “Islamic extremism.”
Johnson said, “ISIS I think would like be Islamic extremism because it therefore concedes that what they are saying and what they are doing occupies legitimately some form of Islam, which is about peace. And so here domestically I think its critical in order to build our relationship and build our level of cooperation with the Islamic community here we have to say to them ‘look we understand what this depraved terrorist organization is doing is no part of your religion.'”
He added, “It’s important to remember that Islam is one of the largest religions in the world and this band of terrorist and criminals does not represent what the overwhelming majority of Muslims in this country believe Islam is all about.”
Follow Pam Key on Twitter @pamkeyNEN
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