[Al Arabiya Latest] President Barack Obama's new national security doctrine will make clear that the United States does not consider itself to be at war with Islam, a top adviser said on Wednesday.
The White House on Thursday plans to roll out Obama's first formal declaration of national security goals, which are expected to deviate sharply from the go-it-alone approach of the Bush era that included justification for pre-emptive war and alienated many in the Muslim world.
Previewing parts of the document, John Brennan, Obama's leading counterterrorism adviser, said: "We have never been and will never be at war with Islam."
"The president's strategy is unequivocal with regard to our posture -- the United States of America is at war. We are at war against al-Qaeda and its terrorist affiliates," he said in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
Brennan's words dovetailed with Obama's outreach to the Muslim world, where the U.S. image under former President George W. Bush was hurt by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and his use of phrases like "war on terror" and "Islamo-fascism."
At West Point on Saturday, Obama laid out the broad principles of his coming National Security Strategy, a document required by law of every administration, stressing international engagement over Bush's "cowboy diplomacy."
Grappling with a fragile U.S. economy and mounting deficits, Obama also signaled he would place new emphasis on the link between U.S. economic strength and discipline at home and restoring America's standing in the world.
Obama has been widely credited with improving the tone of U.S. foreign policy but is still struggling with unfinished wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, nuclear standoffs with Iran and North Korea, and sluggish Middle East peace efforts.
Critics say some of his efforts at diplomatic outreach show U.S. weakness. |