If any civilization is to survive, it is the morality of altruism that men have to reject
Attorney-General McClelland is confident that if we get the lingo right “community harmony” will be strengthened and extremists “disempowered”. This is just what the learned analysts in the U.S. recommended. All seem to assume that the rank-and-file Muslims are getting their understanding of jihad and Islam from Western non-Muslims. Such a view is so preposterous as to beggar belief, but it now underlies the official policies of the U.S., the E.U., and Australia.
* Sliding deeper into KRuddistan and Fuzz-world: if we stop talking about it, the jihad might just… go away:
The U.S. started it, and now Australia is following. The assumption seems to be that if we stop talking about jihad (which American officials never did very much, anyway), the jihadists will stop waging it. A strategy for ostriches and cowards, not for free people.
- “Junk the jihad, it’s jargon we need,” by Richard Ackland in the Brisbane Times, July 10 (thanks to JW):
Don’t you just love it when things are “rolled out”? Supermarket unit pricing is rolled out; new radar system for the boys in Afghanistan is rolled out; Nokia rolls out an Apple apps store.The latest rollout was announced this week by the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland. It’s a “national roll-out of a project to promote the consistent use of language in engaging with communities on national security issues”. It’s branded as the “Lexicon on Terrorism”.
It’s not quite roll out the barrel, but it’s still going to be a lot of fun. The first thing the project should examine is the use of the words “roll-out” and while they’re at it “going forward” also needs some attention.
Mr McClelland’s announcement was necessarily fuzzy. “We need to use language that does not inadvertently glorify terrorism but rather describes it in terms of base criminal behaviour of the most reprehensible kind.” Inappropriate use of language in a terrorism context can lead to “misunderstanding”.
Fortunately, work on the project is being led by one of the most culturally sensitive organisations in the country, the Victoria Police, in partnership with the Victorian Premier’s Department, the Australian Multicultural Foundation and the Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department.
Attorney-General McClelland is confident that if we get the lingo right “community harmony” will be strengthened and extremists “disempowered”.
This is just what the learned analysts in the U.S. recommended. All seem to assume that the rank-and-file Muslims are getting their understanding of jihad and Islam from Western non-Muslims. Such a view is so preposterous as to beggar belief, but it now underlies the official policies of the U.S., the E.U., and Australia.
The United States, the European Union and Britain have all done lexicon of terrorism projects and produced guidebooks for official use.For instance, in the US the Extremist Messaging Branch of the National Counter Terrorism Centre issued a memo in March 2008 which the State Department approved for use by US diplomats. “It’s not what you say but what they hear,” it declared, which basically boils down to not using in conversations words such as “jihadist” or “mujahideen”. Presumably, “Islamo-fascist” is also out.
According to Associated Press, which reported these developments last year, it now appears that these terms could actually encourage support for extremists “by giving them a veneer of religious credibility or by causing offence to moderates”.
It might have saved a lot of lives and misadventure if only we’d known earlier that jihad doesn’t just mean “holy war”, but can also mean “struggle for good”. The Department of Homeland Security and the National Counterterrorism Centre in a report on the lexicon added that even if “jihad” is used accurately and in context it still may not be “strategic” to use it….
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
“anti-islamic actions”? (UK)
“man-caused disasters”? (USA)
* the Victoria Police
There’s a good start. How about a soccer match between police and
“marginalised” ethnic youth?
We had a spate of break-ins in our area recently .
The police referred to them as ‘ un-robber-like activities ‘ and they stopped immediately .
It’s a great idea to rename jihadis. Why didn’t we think of it before!
Let’s call them fluffy bunnies, then they will immediately stop all terrorist activity.
How about we rename them “morally reprehensible oiks” and give them one swift boot up the arse on their way to the electric chair? I think that should give some demonstrable results in the war on jihaddi terrorism!
He’s not a Jihadi he’s a naughty boy!