News Alert

Perilous Euphemisms, FrontPageMagazine.com 6/19/09 [Excerpts]: "Overseas contingency operation." "Man-caused disaster." "Anti-Islamic activity." These are the currently required terms by our government for "Global War on Terror," "Terrorism," and "Islamic terrorism."...The directive for using the "proper" terminology in official announcements was not a casual request but part of an official memo from...Janet Napolitano, our Secretary of Homeland Security....Many of her contradictory pronouncements invite comparisons to the manipulations of language in George Orwell's 1984. According to her recent comments on CNN, "Illegal immigration is not a crime." Of course, anything "illegal" is a crime by definition....
An official memo from the National Counterterrorism Communication Center directs the replacement of terrorists with vague words like "extremists or totalitarians." Officials are to "refrain from using so-called harsh words or Arabic words with Islamic consequence." Instead they are to use generic terms without specific emphasis. "Jihad" is used by the radicals themselves; why can't we use it? Going one step further, the government has drafted official guidelines in the publication, "Terminology to Define the Terrorists: Recommendations from American Muslims, a guide for U.S. Government Officials."...The government asked Muslims--many of whom may well adhere to the political ideology of submission under Islam and Shari'a Law--to assist with the publication.
Language is critical. It shapes our thinking and determines our action. The enemy's perilous intensions cannot be blurred. If we do not name them, we cannot confront them. If we do not properly describe them we cannot defeat them. These new expressions mislead the public and confuse our law enforcement officers....
A vast majority of imams preach Islam's goal: world domination. While we must not call all Muslims terrorists, violence is inherent in Islam, and the radicals cite the Qur'an as the foundation for their actions. Prominent imams preach that there will be no peace until everybody converts and Islam rules. Sheik Ibrahim Mudeiris declared in a sermon on PA TV on May 13, 2005, "We have ruled the world before, and by Allah, the day will come when we will rule the entire world again."
[TBC: If we don't speak the truth in love, we wittingly or unwittingly foster delusion.]