Choose Your Words Wisely
One thing that most of us know, those that seem to love to write at tireless rates, is words and their formation can impart different messages. I may not wield the pen as well, and I may spend more time in the passion of writing where the words come more from the gut than out of a need to truly communicate a clear point. But, I do pay close attention to my use of certain words where more than one meaning can belie a separate meaning from my intent.
In today’s Stand-To article, Today’s Focus, the US Army is paying close attention to how words are used in communicating everything related to the Global War on Terror. It is clear that our enemies are using our words against us. When such learned members of the Beltway use terms in an elitist attempt to speak over our heads, they actually provide more support and in turn embolden the enemies of the United States of America.
We, however, should not make the same mistake!
Let’s take this as an example:
A case in point is the term “jihadist.” Many leaders use the term jihadist or jihadi as a synonym for Islamic extremist. Jihad has been commonly adapted in English as meaning “holy war.” But to Muslims it means much more. In their article, Streusand and Tunnell said in Arabic - the language of the Koran - jihad “literally means striving and generally occurs as part of the expression ‘jihad fi sabil illah,’ striving in the path of God.”
This is a good thing for all Muslims. “Calling our enemies jihadis and their movement a global jihad thus indicates that we recognize their doctrines and actions as being in the path of God and, for Muslims, legitimate,” they wrote. By countering jihadis, the West and moderate Muslims are enemies of true Islam.
In English, there are some important terms that can be misinterpreted. I can say that for me, regarding terms not in my native tongue, I try to stay far away from using the much over used word jihadist. Once I knew that it’s root means one thing and the power it can impart is motivating, I figured it’s a word that can stay in the bag for a while.
The two gentlemen from the National Defense University at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, D.C., Dr. Douglas E. Streusand and Army Lt. Col. Harry D. Tunnell IV, have only just begun this training process. Their paper was promoted on June 22nd of this year on the DefenseLINK site. The DefenseLINK article, Loosely Interpreted Arabic Terms Can Promote Enemy Ideology, is written by Jim Garamone of the American Forces Press Service. Dr. Streusand and Lt. Col. Tunnell have been taking careful aim at terms being used and getting a better understanding out to the rest of us. Let’s take jihadists again, yet here is what their research has found:
The men asked Muslim scholars what the correct term for Islamic extremists would be and they came up with “hirabah.” This word specifically refers to those engaged in sinful warfare, warfare contrary to Islamic law. “We should describe the Islamic totalitarian movement as the global hirabah, not the global jihad,” they wrote.
And, this is a very enlightening paragraph:
The men point out that an al Qaeda caliphate would not mean the establishment of just rule, but rather a global totalitarian state where women would be treated as chattel, music banned and any kind of difference severely punished. “Anyone who needs a preview of how such a state would act merely has to review the conduct of the Taliban in Afghanistan before Sept. 11, 2001,” they wrote.
The correct term for the al Qaeda goal is global totalitarian state - something no one in the world wants.
If you use terms like jihadist, mujahdeen, and caliphate, you might want to go peruse the Stand-To, DefenseLINK, or National Defense University sites. We all need to use the correct terms to put the Global War on Totalitarianism on it’s heels, big time!
RELATED SITES:
US Army’s Stand-To, Today’s Focus
DefenseLINK article, Loosely Interpreted Arabic Terms Can Promote Enemy Ideology
National Defense University, Choosing Words Carefully: Language to Help Fight Islamic Terrorism
Also posted at California Conservative
TAGS: Fix4RSO, Milblog, Military, Terrorists, Terms
