"THE US IS NOT AND NEVER WILL BE AT WAR WITH ISLAM"

Associated Press. ANKARA, Turkey – Barack Obama, making his first visit to a Muslim nation as president, declared Monday the United States "is not and will never be at war with Islam."

Calling for a greater partnership with the Islamic world in an address to the Turkish parliament, Obama called the country an important U.S. ally in many areas, including the fight against terrorism. He devoted much of his speech to urging a greater bond between Americans and Muslims, portraying terrorist groups such as al Qaida as extremists who did not represent the vast majority of Muslims.

"Let me say this as clearly as I can," Obama said. "The United States is not and never will be at war with Islam. In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical ... in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject."



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What I really appreciate about Obama's policy in the Middle East is his great efforts to communicate a more open and respectful attitude. Although George Bush never equated his "War on Terror" to a "War on Islam" outright, it was very often percieved as such, and very seldom did he qualify or specify the difference.

I think Obama is very aware of this unfortunate and prevalent misconception, and knows the great detriment it brought to both American views of the Muslim world and vice versa. Reversing the effects of this prolonged misconstruction will certainly take time, but as someone who can understand the Muslim-Arab view as well as the American one, I appreciate Obama’s gestures.