Reza Aslan on the Islamic State: There's no diplomacy, they have to be destroyed

Religious scholar Reza Aslan said Monday that Islamic State jihadists needed to be destroyed with military might, and disputed characterizations of Islam as a religion of violence - or a religion of peace.

"I think from what we understand about what the president's going to say, the threefold structure of his plan of attack is the right one," Aslan, a professor at the University of California, Riverside, told CNN. "Number one, you do have to respond militarily to ISIS soldiers and fighters. These guys are fighting a war of the imagination, a war that they think is happening between the forces of good and evil. There is no negotiation. There's no diplomacy. There's nothing to talk about with these guys. They have to be destroyed."
"What makes ISIS so powerful and potent is that they have managed to use grievances that a lot of Iraqis have, that a lot of Syrians have, frankly, that a lot of Muslims around the world have had, to draw people to their cause," Aslan added. "And unless those grievances can be addressed, the appeal of a group like ISIS isn't going to work. And then, finally, of course, you have got to deal with the mess in Syria eventually."
"Well, Islam isn't a violent religion or a peaceful religion," he said. "It's just a religion. And like all religions, it is absolutely dependent on the interpretation of whomever follows it."

More