WASHINGTON (AP) — A Catholic University of America scholar says President Barack Obama’s strategy to combat the Islamic State group must take into account the militants’ religious appeal.

CUA Law Prof. Robert Destro says the Obama administration was blindsided by the Islamic militants’ sweep through much of northern Iraq and Syria because CIA analysts “don’t pay attention to religion.”

Destro says the Islamic State group is engaged in “a fight for the soul of Islam” as well as for territory in which to establish a caliphate.

He says Christians and Jews should support moderate Muslims who proclaim that the militants are not Islamic, but only criminals.

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