--- title: CIA Chief Says Calling ISIS Islamic “Does Injustice” To Religion description: Brennan backed the White House’s effort to avoid using the word “Islamic” to describe terror groups like ISIS. canonical: https://time.com/3744801/cia-director-john-brennan-isis-muslims-islam/ author: Noah Rayman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-03-13T22:13:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T05:05:04.236Z article:section: Politics og:title: CIA Chief Says Calling ISIS Islamic “Does Injustice” To Religion og:description: Brennan backed the White House’s effort to avoid using the word “Islamic” to describe terror groups like ISIS. og:url: https://time.com/3744801/cia-director-john-brennan-isis-muslims-islam/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb855edc893cdf2/698783970b72e336346de2a6/cia-overhaul_raym-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: John Brennan og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: CIA Chief Says Calling ISIS Islamic “Does Injustice” To Religion twitter:description: Brennan backed the White House’s effort to avoid using the word “Islamic” to describe terror groups like ISIS. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb855edc893cdf2/698783970b72e336346de2a6/cia-overhaul_raym-1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # CIA Director Says ISIS Not Islamic, But 'Psychopathic'  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Mar 13, 2015 10:13 PM CUT  CIA Director John Brennan addresses a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations, in New York, Friday, March 13, 2015. CIA Director John Brennan addresses a meeting at the Council on Foreign Relations, in New York, Friday, March 13, 2015.Richard Drew—AP  by [Noah Rayman](/author/noah-rayman/)  ## Noah Rayman Mar 13, 2015 10:13 PM CUT CIA Director John Brennan has defended the White House’s efforts to avoid using the word “Islamic” to describe extremist terror groups like the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS). At a[ question and answer session](http://www.cfr.org/intelligence/cias-global-mission-countering-shared-threats/p36271 "undefined") at the Center for Foreign Relations in New York City on Friday, Brennan said using “Islamic” or “Muslim” to describe ISIS militants gives them “the type of Islamic legitimacy that they are so desperately seeking, but which they don’t deserve at all.” “I do think it does injustice to the tenets of religion when we attach a religious moniker to them,” Brennan said. President Barack Obama has come under fire from some conservative commentators and politicians for not identifying the extremists with the religion they claim to represent. Addressing the criticism head on at the White House Summit on Countering Violent Extremism last month, Obama said that those who use the religious descriptors are [peddling a “lie”](http://time.com/3715374/isis-barack-obama-rhetoric/ "undefined") that helps ISIS recruit Muslims to its cause. An estimated 20,000 foreign fighters, including several thousand from Western countries, have traveled to the region to join ISIS, which has proven adept at using social media to reach a global audience. Brennan announced last week a sweeping reorganization of the CIA that included the creation of a new “Directorate of Digital Innovation” devoted to cyber operations. At the talk on Friday, which was hosted by CBS News’ Charlie Rose, Brennan warned that defeating ISIS’s capabilities and appeal will “take years.” “We need to expose just how murderous and psychopathic these individuals are,” he said. ### Peek Inside Kobani After Kurds Claim Victory Over ISIS  A Kurdish man stands in a destroyed building in the center of the Syrian border town of Kobani on Jan. 28, 2015. Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images  Street scene in Kobani on Jan. 28, 2015. Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images  A Kurdish fighter speaks on the phone as one of his comrades walks past in the center of the Syrian town of Kobani on Jan. 28, 2015. Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images  A Kurdish fighter walks through the wreckage of a building in the center of the Syrian town of Kobani on Jan. 28\. 2015. Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images  A Kurdish fighter walks with his child in the center of the Syrian border town of Kobani, Jan. 28, 2015. Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images  A shell is used as a vase in the Syrian border town of Kobani on Jan. 28, 2015. Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images  An injured Kurdish fighter sits near the site where a projectile landed in the center of the Syrian town of Kobani on Jan. 28, 2015. Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images  Kurdish fighters walk along a street in the center of the Syrian town of Kobani on Jan. 28, 2015. Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images  A Kurdish fighter drives a truck with a heavy gun machine in the center of the Syrian town of Kobani on Jan. 28\. 2015. Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images  A Kurd stands in a building as pigeons fly over in the center of the Syrian town of Kobani on Jan. 28, 2015. Bulent Kilic—AFP/Getty Images ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3744801/cia-director-john-brennan-isis-muslims-islam/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3744801/cia-director-john-brennan-isis-muslims-islam/"},"headline":"CIA Director Says ISIS Not Islamic, But 'Psychopathic'","datePublished":"2015-03-13T22:13:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T05:05:04.236Z","description":"\"We need to expose just how murderous and psychopathic these individuals are\"","url":"https://time.com/3744801/cia-director-john-brennan-isis-muslims-islam/","keywords":["intelligence","ISIS"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb855edc893cdf2/698783970b72e336346de2a6/cia-overhaul_raym-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Noah Rayman","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/noah-rayman/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt6bb855edc893cdf2/698783970b72e336346de2a6/cia-overhaul_raym-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"John Brennan","caption":"John Brennan","creditText":"Richard Drew—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/intelligence/","name":"intelligence"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3744801/cia-director-john-brennan-isis-muslims-islam/","name":"CIA Director Says ISIS Not Islamic, But 'Psychopathic'"}}]}] ```