A Rose By Any Other Name

For John, BLUF:  A rose by any other name still has thorns.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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One of the themes on local access TV, City Life, is ISIS vs ISIL.  The thrust of Host George Anthes' remarks are that ISIL is how Democrats say it and ISIS is how Republicans name the Salafist group in Syria and Iraq.  Some would say that ISIL is the US Government preferred term.

The difference between ISIS and ISIL turns on how we translate the longer term the group has previously applied to itself, al-Dawlah al-Islāmīyah fī al-ʻIraq wa-al-Shām.  The difference further turns on what "al-Shām" means, Syria or the Levant.

And, the Insurgent Group is trying to shift to a new name.  They, themselves, describe themselves as IS, or the Islamic State.  But, that is not catching on.  The question is, is this crowd really IS?  If we call it a "state" does that give it standing under international law?

"France is ditching the ‘Islamic State’ name — and replacing it with a label the group hates, Da'esh."  This is discussed in The Washington Post, here.

Da'esh is an Arabic acronym for the name it has been calling itself.

Here is the French Government's Communique.

Regards  —  Cliff