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A former Obama administration official dismissed President Trump's reference to "radical Islamic terrorism" in his speech to Congress last night as a talking point that doesn't matter much in the war against the Islamic State.

"There's nothing magic about those three words, and they're not a strategy, they're a talking point," said Marie Harf, a former State Department spokeswoman, on Fox News.

Harf noted that Trump's own staff has said they oppose using that term because it "alienates a lot of the people that we actually need to work with us in defeating ISIS."

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She said Obama's plan was effective and was working, which was to build up local forces to fight the group and give them air support. But that plan was criticized by many Republicans, who said it required waiting for several years to make progress.

Republicans also said Obama hurt the effort by failing to acknowledge that radical Islam was the source of the terrorist threat, and charged that he couldn't effectively fight an enemy he refused to identify.

Unlike President Obama's push to "degrade and destroy" the Islamic State, Trump said his plan was to "demolish and destroy" the group.

"As promised, I directed the Department of Defense to develop a plan to demolish and destroy ISIS a network of lawless savages that have slaughtered Muslims and Christians, and men, women, and children of all faiths and beliefs," Trump said.

Also from the Washington Examiner

"He was talking specifically about ISIS at the time. We're talking about the broader threat."

03/01/17 2:40 PM

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Obama official: 'Nothing magic' about saying 'radical Islamic terrorism' - Washington Examiner