Naming the Enemy

For John, BLUF:  What is in a name?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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At this link is CNN Analyst Kim Dozier explaining the differences between ISIL, ISIS, IS and Daesh and why some of our friends in the Middle East want us to use Daesh.

4:49 in Running Time.

I do think the fear of using the word "Islam" in connection with this organization, Daesh, which is trying to reclaim the territories of previous Caliphates, and which has presence, and is governing parts of Iraq, Syria, Libya and now Lebanon, is not helpful.

It would be better for all concerned to recognize that this grows out of a extreme view or misunderstanding of Islam, as the KKK was a distortion of Christianity in the United States.  Just as we here in the United States were slow to grapple with, condemn and eventually outlaw acts of the Second Klan—the first Klan having sprung up and quickly expired as it was designated a "terror organization" by a Federal Judge—so too the Leadership and the People in Muslim lands have been slow to get their hands around Daesh.  A sense of loss allowed some to foster, or at least tolerate, the Klan from 1915 until the middle of the century.  So too in Arab lands.  Time for a change.  Avoiding naming the pain doesn't help.  The Islamic Klan.

When we think about Daesh, we should remember that their goal is to establish their control from Portugal in the West to Bangladesh in the East.

That is a very wide swath of land.

Regards  —  Cliff