Anti-Extremism summit looks beyond military action

World Today

On the final day of the White House summit to counter violent extremism around the world President Obama called it an “ugly lie” to say the U.S. is at war with Islam. He called on representatives of more than 60 countries and international organizations to unite to counter the message spread by terror groups from Boko Haram in Nigeria to ISIL in Iraq.
CCTV America’s Nathan King filed this report from Washington, D.C.

Coalition bombs hit ISIL targets, but U.S. officials admit military intervention alone won’t stop the spread of extremist groups.

That’s the central message of this three day summit. More must be done to counter the narrative of groups like ISIL and Boko Haram. U.S. President Barack Obama called on nations to reject extremism in all its forms and once again President Obama used the occasion to reject the religious connection claimed by many extremist groups.

“These terrorists are desperate for legitimacy- and all of us have a responsibility to refute the notion that groups like ISIL somehow represent Islam- because that is a falsehood that embraces the terrorist narrative,” President Obama said.

The U.S. announced that it is beefing up its counter terrorism communications department. Along with the United Arab Emirates, it is launching a new digital effort to create content to counter online propaganda by extremists.

While countries involved in the struggle against terrorists especially in the Middle East mostly expressed support for the initiative, some pointed out that solving the political crises in the region could also help.

“Violent extremism is not isolated from events in Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Yemen, Libya and elsewhere,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said.

Violent extremism now has a global reach similar to the attacks in Copenhagen, Paris, Ottawa and Sydney. This summit searched for ways to tackle the home-grown threats, too.