WASHINGTON, July 27: The White House has said that the fight against terrorism is ‘an ideological struggle’ and only military effort cannot defeat it. “This is an ideological struggle that we’re engaged in and it’s much broader than just a military effort,” White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told a briefing in Washington.

“It involves many different fronts that we have to wage this on. And it’s important for all communities to work together to spread an ideology of hope and opportunity that is founded in freedom,” he said.

Mr McClellan noted that as many as 500 Muslims leaders sent letters to British Prime Minister Tony Blair condemning the London bombings while other Muslims also had condemned the bombing of the Egyptian tourist resort Sherm al Sheikh.

“We appreciate Muslim leaders stepping up and speaking out against these murders of innocent civilians. All of us need to work together to defeat the ideology of hatred that the terrorists seek to spread. That’s the way that we will prevail in the war on terrorism, by working together to spread freedom and hope.”

Quoting President Bush, Mr McClellan said it was important to remind the people that “Islam is a religion that teaches peace” and the terrorists “seek to hijack that religion and use it to spread an ideology that’s not based on any religion.” The White House press secretary said the only way to defeat this ideology of hate was to spread freedom and democracy.