WASHINGTON : The US is working closely with the Muslim leaders to try to counter Islamic State’s violent extremist ideology to radicalise individuals around the globe, the White House has said after the terrorist attack on a news magazines office in Paris killing more than 10 people.
“We have enjoyed significant success in enlisting leaders in the Muslim community, like I said, both in the United States and around the world to condemn that kind of messaging, to condemn those efforts to radicalise individuals, and to be clear about what the tenets of Islam actually are.
“We are going to redouble those efforts in the days and weeks ahead,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said yesterday.
There are some individuals that are using a peaceful religion and grossly distorting it, and trying to use its tenets to inspire people around the globe to carry out acts of violence, Earnest said after the terrorist attack in Paris.
The US is still trying to figure out exactly who’s responsible for this attack in Paris, what their motivations are.
“But as a general matter, we’re very mindful of the threat from foreign fighters and the need to try to counter some of the extremist ideology that IS is propagating, using some pretty sophisticated social media strategies,” he said.
Earnest said the events in Paris that are so tragic are a reminder of how important it is for everybody to be vigilant about the threats being faced.
“I don’t say that to hint that somehow the French fell short of needed vigilance, only that today’s tragic terror attack is an indication of just how serious a threat we face.
And there are men and women in the US national security infrastructure that are working around the clock to try to protect the American people and American interests both here at home and around the world,” he said.
“The threat that we face is serious, but what we have is strong international cooperation with our partners around the globe to try to mitigate the threat that is posed by foreign fighters.
We are working very closely with leaders in the Muslim community both at home and around the world to try to counter the violent extremist messaging that IS and other extremist organisations are using to try to radicalise individuals around the globe,” the presidential spokesperson said.
Senior members of the President’s national security team have been in touch with their French counterparts since very early this morning, he said, adding that in those conversations offered any needed assistance that the French have in trying to figure out exactly what happened, trying to determine who was responsible, bringing them to justice, and also determining exactly what their motivation was.
“So we’ve offered all of the assistance that we can offer. We are still in the early stages of tracking down those details, and the French are obviously very interested in finding this out, and this government is as well. And we’re going to provide them all the assistance that we can to try to get answers to some of these questions,” he added. (AGENCIES)
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