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I Hate to Say This, But

Saturday, 10 May 2008

Frank Hyland
Back in February, I mentioned two emerging problems and characterized them as being Perfect-Storm-type problems. The first was an attempt largely by the Muslim community to characterize as “Islamophobic” those of us who are opposed to terrorists inspired by Islam, the Qur’an, It was a tactic that had worked for other social movements, so why not give it a try? The word “Islamophobia” then began to be used by non-Muslims. On February 23rd I told you about a British official, Catherine Heseltine, who employed the term in criticizing those who had warned about the practice of arranging marriages of first cousins in Britain. Not long after that, on February 27th, I told you in a column entitled “The X Word” that a growing number of words were being removed from our everyday speech because of objections to them. Well, those columns are coming back to haunt me……and you. Among the words I included in the latter column was the “J” word. Little did I suspect then that barely a month later, guidance would circulate throughout the US Government directing officials to cease using a list of words, prominent among them, Jihad, Jihadis, Jihadist, Jihadism,…..you get the picture. Actually, you get it far better than those who wrote the memo.

The document you should peruse is “Words that Work and Words that Don’t: A Guide for Counterterrorism Communication.” Try not to read it around mealtime, though. In there you’ll see that “Jihadist,” or “Mujahidin,” or “al Qaeda Movement” and many other similar and related terms should not be used in describing terrorist acts or the perpetrators of those acts. Why not? We’re told that the terms generate support for the BadGuys, give them added credibility, and simultaneously offend moderate Muslims. “Muslim,” by the way, is yet another term that is soon to be shown to the Exit, according to the document.

Those readers among The Greatest Generation, who lived through World War II, chime in here as well; those who remember the Korean “Conflict” and Vietnam join the choir. Imagine, if you can, gathering around your radios and listening to the news that “Aircraft sent by a nation from the Far East today bombed Pearl Harbor…..” Or how about, “Death Camps administered by a Western European nation have been found to have gassed to death six million innocent victims.”

So if I understand this correctly, if I change the way I characterize BadGuys, the BadGuys will change their behavior. Got that? From now on, I am to call them “Extremists.” I would imagine that Law Enforcement officials are overjoyed. Here’s another scene for you to imagine: A terrorist attack has just occurred and police radios in the area crackle with alerts, directions, and descriptions. You and your partner participate in a traffic stop, looking for the perpetrators. You call in asking for description of the BadGuys and are told by the Dispatcher, “They’re Extremists; be on the lookout for Extremists.” Your reply cannot be printed here.

It is scary enough that this sort of foolishness is published and used by public officials. It is even scarier that such a document survived the vetting process, being routed around from agency to agency before being adopted on your behalf. It is proving difficult enough to combat Muslims inspired by their twisted notion of Islam without having to also fight with our own government in its efforts to dumb down the battle in an effort to make it Politically Correct.

Frank Hyland is a staff writer for the New Media Alliance, Inc. The New Media Alliance is a non-profit (501c3) national coalition of writers, journalists and grass-roots media outlets.

Frank Hyland Authors Page and Archives

The opinions expressed in this column represent those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, or philosophy of Borderfire Report.

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