White House Reluctant to Use ‘Radical Islam’ Label for Terrorists

The press secretary argued that the White House is unwilling to legitimize an "illegitimate justification" of actions perpetrated by terrorists who profess a "distorted deviant view of Islam."

MOSCOW, January 14 (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, White House press secretary Josh Earnest attempted to explain the Obama administration’s reluctance to use the term 'radical Islam' regarding the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, the Washington Times reports.

"…We have chosen not to use that label [radical Islam] because it doesn’t seem to accurately describe what happened," the press secretary said, according to the newspaper.

Earnest argued that the White House is unwilling to legitimize an "illegitimate justification" of actions perpetrated by terrorists who profess a "distorted deviant view of Islam," according to Breitbart News Network. He also pointed out that one of the victims of the terrorist attack in Paris was Muslim, and that the attacks themselves were condemned by Muslim leaders in France.

According to Breitbart, critics of Obama have already questioned the US President’s reluctance to identify terrorist actions with radical Islam.

Earnest also added that the White House doesn’t seek to criticize anyone who uses the 'radical Islam' label, but that the US administration seeks to be as specific and accurate as possible in describing the events that transpired in Paris, the Weekly Standard adds.

The US President has drawn fire in the wake of the attacks for failing to send a top White House official to represent the US at a march against terrorism in Paris which drew dozens of world leaders, according to the Wall Street Journal.