Obama pledges to destroy Daesh, warns against Islamophobia

US President Barack Obama has doubled down on his pledge to destroy the Daesh, denouncing anti-Muslim sentiments as "repugnant."

Obama made the remarks Friday one day after a driver drove a truck at high speed into a large crowd of people who were celebrating the Bastille Day in Nice, France, killing at least 84 people and injuring over 200.

“Today, our hearts are with the people of France and all of the innocent men, women and so many children who were hurt or killed in this sickening attack,” Obama said. 

“These terrorists are targeting and killing innocent people, including Muslims,” said Obama, who earlier ordered American flags to be flown at half-mast in honor of the victims. “We are going to destroy this vile terrorist organization.”

The president advised against religious discrimination in the wake of the attack, saying that freedom of religion was necessary in the path towards victory.

“We will win this fight by staying true to our values — freedoms of religion, of speech and assembly,” he noted.

Referring to fresh calls by key Republican figures such as New Gingrich to “test” American Muslims for radicalism, Obama said such statements are “repugnant” and divisive.

“We cannot give in to fear or turn on each other or sacrifice our way of life,” he added. “That’s exactly what the terrorists want. We should never do their work for them. The hatred and the violence of a few ultimately is no match for the love and decency and hard work of people of goodwill.”

The recent attack follows similar ones in Orlando, Florida; Istanbul, Turkey; Bangladesh and numerous other locations across the world, raising concerns that terror groups, in particular Daesh, are expanding their territory.

This view was echoed by retired US Army Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, former chief of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), who said Wednesday that Obama’s weak and narrow strategy in the fight against the Daesh (ISIL) terrorist network allows the group to expand its “global footprint.”

“They [Daesh] have the global strategic initiative,” Flynn told an audience at the Heritage Foundation, adding that defeating Daesh in Iraq was not going to stop its expansion.

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