By IINA,
Washington : The U.S. government finally realized that it’s unacceptable to link Islam or Muslims with terrorist organizations. American officials are now advised to avoid referring to Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups as Islamic or Muslim, and not to use terms like “Jihad” or “Mujahedeen”. “There’s a growing consensus (in the administration) that we need to move away from that language,” said a former senior administration official who was involved until recently in policy debates on the issue, according to the United Press International (UPI). Last month, two documents issued by the National Counter-Terrorism Center, the multi-agency center charged with strategic coordination of the “U.S. war on terrorism”, urged American officials to use less-intense terminologies such as violent extremists, totalitarian and death cult when referring to terrorists.
“Avoid labeling everything ‘Muslim.’ It reinforces the ‘U.S. vs. Islam’ framework that Al Qaeda promotes,” reads “Words that Work and Words that Don’t: A Guide for Counter-Terrorism Communication,” produced last month by the center. “You have a large percentage of the world’s population that subscribes to this religion,” noted the former official. “Unintentionally alienating them is not a judicious move.” Demanding U.S. politicians not to use the world Islam in conjunction with terrorism, the guide notes that “Although the Al Qaida network exploits religious sentiments and tries to use religion to justify its actions, we should treat it as an illegitimate political organization, both terrorist and criminal.”
Instead of referring to terror groups as Muslim or Islamic, the guide suggests using words like totalitarian, terrorist or violent extremist, arguing that such terms deny criminals “any level of legitimacy”. The guide also states that using the wrong terminologies might help legalize terror groups. “Never use the terms ‘Jihadist’ or ‘Mujahedin’ … to describe the terrorists,” instructs the guide. “A Mujahed, a holy warrior, is a positive characterization in the context of a just war. In Arabic, Jihad means ‘striving in the path of God’ and is used in many contexts beyond warfare. Calling our enemies Jihadis and their movement a global Jihad unintentionally legitimizes their actions.” Daniel Sutherland, who runs the Department of Homeland Security Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, also believes that associating Islam with terrorism helps terror groups. “There are some terms which Al Qaida wants us to use because they are helpful to them,” he said. “This is in no way an exercise in political correctness … we are not watering down what we say.”
Another document published by the Sutherland’s office last month includes recommendations from Islamic community leaders and religious experts about the terminology U.S. officials should use. “Terminology to Define the Terrorists: Recommendations from American Muslims,” says U.S. officials should avoid using the terms Islamist or Islamism, which offend many Muslims around the world. “The experts we consulted did not criticize this usage based on accuracy,” says the paper. “Nevertheless, they caution that it may not be strategic for (U.S. government officials) to use the term because the general public, including overseas audiences, may not appreciate the academic distinction between Islamism and Islam.”
The paper also recommended that U.S. officials describe Al Qaeda’s ideology as “Takfirism” – the practice of declaring those who oppose extremism as apostates who can be killed. Unlike Jihad, Takfirism “has historically had an overwhelmingly negative connotation … and perhaps most important some of the most influential Muslim religious leaders have strongly come out against the Takfiri doctrine.” The two documents that were posted online by “The Investigative Project on Terrorism” last week have also highlighted that there were some Bush administration officials who insist on associating Al Qaeda with Islam, including GOP presidential nominee John McCain. In a recent interview, a McCain aide said the senator would continue to use the offensive term “Islamic terrorism”.
However, some commentators have noted after President Bush’s State of the Union speech in January that he had stopped using the term “Islamic terrorism”, and that he instead referred to terrorists – as the NCTC guide recommends – as “extremists — evil men who despise freedom, despise America, and aim to subject millions to their violent rule.