President Obama delivered a statement from the Pentagon on Monday regarding his strategy to “degrade and ultimately destroy” ISIS.
The President said that the battle against Islamic extremism is a matter of ideology, and that an ideology cannot be defeated with military force, but rather by “better ideas.”
“Ideologies are not defeated with guns, they’re defeated by better ideas – a more attractive and compelling vision,” Obama said.
“We will never be at war with Islam,” he noted. “We’re fighting terrorists who distort Islam and whose victims are mostly Muslim.”
Watch the video below for Obama's remarks.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest took Monday's press briefing as an opportunity to blame Senate Republicans for inhibiting the President's strategy against ISIS.
He argued that the reason why the Commander-in-Chief's plan has not been executed effectively is because GOP senators have not yet scheduled a hearing for a new undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence at the Treasury Department.
But isn't the issue centered on ideology? Better ideas?
Go figure.