WASHINGTON — “Muslim Americans across our country are worried and afraid,” President Obama wrote in a new op-ed to tout the “countering violent extremism” summit in Washington this week that focuses almost exclusively on homegrown Islamic terrorism.

By and large, Obama’s Los Angeles Times op-ed detailed his administration’s efforts to quell “terrorism” abroad, as the president ticked off all of America’s Islamic extremist targets across the globe, including “Islamic State,” Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, the Pakistani Taliban, Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram. 

He included smaller groups or actors that have recently attacked Ottawa, Sydney, Paris and Copenhagen.

“In the face of this challenge, we must stand united internationally and here at home,” Obama wrote. “We know that military force alone cannot solve this problem. Nor can we simply take out terrorists who kill innocent civilians. We also have to confront the violent extremists — the propagandists, recruiters and enablers — who may not directly engage in terrorist acts themselves, but who radicalize, recruit and incite others to do so.”

Last week, Obama called for Congress to renew U.S. authority for the use of military force to target “Islamic State” (IS, also known as ISIS and ISIL), the jihadist group that has come to control large areas of Iraq and Syria since the beginning of the latter nation’s civil war. 

Though the U.S. has led airstrikes against IS in Iraq since August, Obama said his request – with no specific geographic limitations applied to U.S. forces – was needed to show a united front against IS and “associated persons or forces” or those who fight on behalf or with the group, as well as “any closely-related successor entity in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners.”

Obama said America’s pluralism will win the day, as he stressed that the U.S. is not at war with Islam.

“Finally — with al Qaeda and ISIL peddling the lie that the United States is at war with Islam — all of us have a role to play by upholding the pluralistic values that define us as Americans,” he wrote in lauding the anti-extremism summit. “This week, we’ll be joined by people of many faiths, including Muslim Americans who make extraordinary contributions to our country every day. It’s a reminder that America is successful because we welcome people of all faiths and backgrounds.” 

This week at the White House and the U.S. State Department, the Obama administration is holding the “countering violent extremism” (CVE) summit in order to forge bonds between law enforcement and community leaders from areas at risk for homegrown terrorism. The meeting stems from a pilot program that the US Department of Justice began to “develop comprehensive local strategies” to combat extremism while sowing trust between law enforcement and Muslim communities in Boston, Los Angeles and Minneapolis.