WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Thursday called on nations around the world to expand human rights, religious tolerance and peaceful dialogue as they struggle to combat a spate of terrorism that has recently struck places as far afield as Australia, Canada and Europe.
In an address to world leaders on the final day of a Washington conference on violent extremism, Obama said poverty and political grievances fuel alienation that can lead to bursts of killing like those seen recently in Paris; Copenhagen; Sydney; and Ottawa, Ontario. In addition to building up security forces, he said nations must "put an end to the cycle of hate" through opportunity and freedom.
"When people are oppressed and human rights are denied, particularly along sectarian lines or ethnic lines, when dissent is silenced, it feeds violent extremism," Obama told a gathering of ministers from dozens of countries. "It creates an environment that is ripe for terrorists to exploit. When peaceful democratic change is impossible, it feeds into the terrorist propaganda that violence is the only answer available.
"So we must recognize that lasting stability and real security require democracy," he added. "That means free elections where people can choose their own future, and independent judiciaries that uphold the rule of law, and police and security forces that respect human rights, and free speech and freedom for civil society groups, and it means freedom of religion."
The summit meeting was wrapping up Thursday as political debate arises about the administration's approach to terrorism. More than 13 years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the United States is still searching for a consensus about how to deal with extremist threats.
The issue has grown more urgent with the rise of the terrorist group calling itself the Islamic State. Obama -- who had prided himself on ending U.S. involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- has opened a new war in the region by launching airstrikes against the Islamic State. But the president has said he does not want an extended ground war against the militants.
His critics contend that his strategy is too restrained and his own view of the threat is too limited.
"The Islamic State is certainly not taking options off the ground in Iraq or Syria or Libya or anywhere else; the United States should not either," said Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas.
Cotton also criticized the president's approach to the summit.
The White House has been careful to describe the meeting in generic terms, avoiding the phrases "Islamic extremism" or "Muslim extremism" and arguing that the sessions are not focused on any one group.
Appearing Thursday on CNN'S The Lead with Jake Tapper, Cotton said not calling the fighters Muslim shows Obama isn't taking them seriously.
"The president seems so concerned to prove the West is not waging war on Islam, but he won't recognize the fact radical Islamists are waging war on the West and the United States as the leader of the West," Cotton said. "To call it violent extremism and not to call it radical Islamic jihadis just goes to show that the president is once again underestimating our enemies."
Cotton served Army tours in Iraq and Afghanistan.
He disagreed with Obama's statement Thursday morning that calling the fighters Islamic lends them the credibility of Islam and distances the U.S. from the majority of Muslims, who don't agree with the Islamic State.
"It emboldens our enemies, the fact that we won't call them by their own name," Cotton said. "The Islamic State doesn't need any credibility or legitimization from Barack Obama. They get that on their own by the successes they've achieved in Iraq and in Syria."
But he agreed that the Islamic State is not representative of the Muslim faith, saying the extremists kill Muslims along with Jews and Christians.
"They are just as vicious to most Muslims in Iraq and Syria who are struggling under their yoke right now," Cotton said. "The reason they are doing that is not because they are representative of the Muslim faith. The reason they are doing it is because they have more arms and weapons and more soldiers and no one is standing up to them. And that is what this president needs to do."
In promoting democracy and freedom as part of the solution, Obama is returning to a theme he has advanced before, and one that his predecessor, President George W. Bush, made the centerpiece of his second inaugural address in 2005.
Obama, like Bush before him, argued that oppression, corruption and injustice create openings for extremists to exploit disgruntled young people. He singled out religious intolerance especially.
"When people spew hatred toward us because of their faith or because they're immigrants, it feeds into terrorist narratives," Obama told the audience gathered at the State Department on Thursday. "It feeds a cycle of fear and resentment and a sense of injustice upon which extremists prey. And we can't allow cycles of suspicion to tear the fabrics of our countries."
He added that dialogue among countries was important. But he added: "What's most needed today, perhaps, are more dialogues within countries, not just across faiths but also within faiths. Violent extremists and terrorists thrive when people of different religions or sects pull away from each other and are able to isolate each other and label each other as 'they' instead of 'us.'"
He emphasized solidarity with the foreign ministers he addressed.
"We are all in the same boat," he said. "We have to help each other. In this work, you will have a strong partner in me and the United States of America."
Obama delivered the speech after a discussion that involved top ministers from several countries, including Japan and Jordan, both still reeling from the recent slayings of citizens who had been held hostage by the Islamic State.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon emphasized Thursday that the fight against such acts should not be used as a justification for tactics that themselves are wrong.
"We will never find our way by discarding our moral compass," he said. "We need cool heads. We need common sense. And we must never let fear rule."
Information for this article was contributed by Peter Baker of The New York Times and by Sarah D. Wire of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 02/20/2015