He can’t possibly be this clueless . . .  and yet, he is.

Via Washington Times:

Criticized for avoiding the phrase “Islamic extremism,” President Obama said he doesn’t want to alienate the majority of peace-loving Muslims as the U.S. fights to defeat terrorist networks around the world.

“I think that for us to be successful in fighting this scourge, it’s very important for us to align ourselves with the 99.9 percent of Muslims who are looking for the same thing we’re looking for — order, peace, prosperity,” Mr. Obama said on CNN. “And so I don’t quibble with labels. […]

“I think we all recognize that this is a particular problem that has roots in Muslim communities, and that the Middle East and South Asia are sort of ground zero for us needing to win back hearts and minds, particularly when it comes to young people,” Mr. Obama said. “But I think we do ourselves a disservice in this fight if we are not taking into account the fact that the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject this ideology. I reject a notion that somehow that creates a religious war, because the overwhelming majority of Muslims reject that interpretation of Islam.”

Mr. Obama said he is not downplaying the threat of terrorism against the U.S., but said he wants to keep the war against extremists in the “proper perspective.”

He added, “We can’t give them the victory of overinflating what they do … and we can’t make the mistake of being reactive to them. We have to have a very precise strategy in terms of how to defeat them.”