Dawn.com, Washington :US President Barack Obama warned Americans on Saturday that they would be playing right into the hands of extremists if they blamed Islam for recent terrorist attacks.In a radio address to the nation, President Obama reminded US citizens it were groups like the militant Islamic State (IS) who were depicting the fight against terrorism as a war between Islam and the West.”Terrorists like IS are trying to divide us along lines of religion and background. That’s how they stoke fear. That’s how they recruit,” he warned. This was President Obama’s third address to his nation since last week’s terrorist attack in San Bernardino, California, in which 14 Americans were killed. In every speech, Mr Obama urged the West, as well as the Muslim world, not to allow the extremists to turn this into a religious war, as doing so would hurt all.”And just as Muslims around the world have to keep rejecting any twisted interpretation of Islam, all of us have to reject bigotry – in all of its forms,” he said. “I’ll say it again, prejudice and discrimination helps IS and it undermines our national security.”
