By Neil Munro at Daily Caller:

Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney identified “jihadists” as the  enemy facing the United States in the Middle East, marking a sharp rhetorical  contrast with U.S. defense policy in place since 2001.

“We’re going to have to put in place a very comprehensive and robust strategy  to help the — the world of Islam and other parts of the world, reject this radical violent extremism,” Romney said, highlighting the link between Islam and  terrorism.

“We can’t kill our way out of this mess … The right course for us is to make  sure that we go after the — the people who are leaders of these various  anti-American groups and these — these jihadists, but also help the Muslim  world,” Romney said.

In contrast, former President George W. Bush labelled the 9/11 attackers “terrorists,” which downplayed their specific connection to a violent Islamic extremist ideology. For the rest of his term, Bush described the U.S.  counterattack as a “war on terrorism.”

In 2009, President Barack Obama changed the rhetoric to label the attackers “violent extremists.” Conservative critics of the president said this shift in  language further downplayed the role of fundamentalist Islamic preachers and  militia commanders in spurring the attacks on U.S. soldiers and diplomats in  countries like Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya.

Obama’s focus on “violent extremism” has been applauded by U.S.-based Islamic  advocacy groups, such as the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Islamic  Society of North America. These groups argue that terror attacks are not  motivated by Islam, even though many terrorists say their attacks are motivated  by Islam’s doctrine of jihad. Many Muslims believe jihad to be an inner  spiritual struggle, while some extremists insist that it the doctrine requires  the waging of war against non-believers.

But the White House’s “Countering Violent Extremism” strategy has also  spurred opposition from within the FBI and federal agencies.

Some officials say the “CVE strategy” hinders their efforts to recognize and  counter domestic and international Islamic messages that spur terror attacks,  and also empowers Islamic groups that seek to isolate and lead Muslim  communities in the United States.