( CNN ) -- President Barack Obama was trying to make a broader point when he uttered `` ISIL is not Islamic , '' but the four-word phrase could still come back to haunt him . Critics on Twitter quickly fired off on the President for making the assertion , with many noting that ISIL in fact stands for the `` Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant . '' ( CNN refers to the group by the acronym ISIS in its news reports . The group recently started calling itself the Islamic State ) . In full context , here 's what Obama said in his prime-time speech Wednesday night : . `` ISIL is not 'Islamic . ' No religion condones the killing of innocents , and the vast majority of ISIL 's victims have been Muslim . And ISIL is certainly not a state ; it was formerly al Qaeda 's affiliate in Iraq and has taken advantage of sectarian strife and Syria 's civil war to gain territory on both sides of the Iraq-Syrian border . It is recognized by no government nor by the people it subjugates . '' `` ISIL is a terrorist organization , pure and simple , and it has no vision other than the slaughter of all who stand in its way . '' Transcript : President Obama 's ISIS speech . The reaction on Twitter was swift : . Others had different reactions : . Obama outlines strategy : Airstrikes in Syria , more U.S. troops .
President Barack Obama said that ISIL does not represent Islam . In his statement , he said : ` ` ISIL is not Islamic '' But I pointed out that ISIL stands for ' Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ''