Excerpt:
As a House committee prepares to turn the spotlight on Al Qaeda's efforts to radicalize Muslims in America, the White House issued a public plea Sunday to focus on the American Muslim community's support for anti-terrorism efforts and to avoid stigmatizing law-abiding followers of Islam.
"We must resolve that, in our determination to protect our nation, we will not stigmatize or demonize entire communities because of the actions of a few," Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough told a crowd gathered in a gymnasium and prayer room at a mosque in northern Virginia.
"In the United States of America, we don't practice guilt by association. And let's remember that just as violence and extremism are not unique to any one faith, the responsibility to oppose ignorance and violence rests with each of us."