Do less offensive terms regarding national security issues help or harm us? [ISLAMOFASCISM]

fsm ^ | March 24, 2009

[Righting]

March 24, 2009

FSM Reader Extra: Top Takes on National Security Do ‘less offensive’ terms regarding national security issues help or harm us?

FSM Team

With almost two dozen attempted attacks thwarted since 9/11 by terrorists either already here or trying to come here to kill Americans it makes no sense to minimize the threat.

 

- James Jay Carafano, Ph.D., is a leading expert in defense affaires, intelligence, military operations and strategy, and homeland security at the Heritage Foundation.

 

Dr. Candace de Russy

 

To lump the terrorist scourge in the catch-all category of “man-caused” disasters, as Napolitano does, effectively obscures its Islamofascist origins and specific destructive consequences.

 

Such pussy-footing around terror amounts to cynical word games intended to propitiate the Obama Administration’s anti-anti-terrorist supporters.

 

Napolitano’s trifling dismissal of “the politics of fear” is more of the same. Neither politics nor fear caused 9/11, or the bloody parade of related attacks. Islamofascism did.

 

And there remains much to fear, which is neither fear itself nor politics: It is future terrorist attacks, including attacks with nuclear weapons.

 

So stop the euphemization, Madame Secretary. You are sending an invitingly weak and defensive message to our enemies and lulling our citizenry into a sense of false security.

 

One could think of this as subversive. 

 

 - Dr. Candace de Russy is a former college professor who was appointed by George W. Bush to serve on the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Air Force Academy from 2002-2005. She currently serves on many education-related boards, and is a nationally recognized writer and lecturer who contributes regularly to such publications as National Review Online.

 

Lee Ellis

 

While this country is trying to return to the 9/12 days of unity against the agents of terror who have wreaked so much damage on Americans and also plan to exterminate all Christians and Jews, this former Arizona Governor wants to take us, instead, back to 9/10 when our government acted as if these murderous plans of several million militant Muslims were mere criminal acts that could be adjudicated by courts and attorneys! Such a belief is akin to sedition!

 

- Lee Ellis is a retired journalist, narrator, and formerly a Vice President with both CBS and Gannett (USA Weekend). He can be contacted at indiolee@dc.rr.com.

 

Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman

 

I believe that the usual American pattern is to underestimate an enemy (such as Islamism) until we are hit – and then we overestimate. This looks like an attempt to downplay the overestimation aspect of the problem. However, I really do not think that the daily briefings will avoid reality. Islamism is the enemy and they are slow, but still alive and will act again.

 

- Dr. Laina Farhat-Holzman is an historian, lecturer, and author who also writes for the Santa Cruz Sentinel. You may contact her at Lfarhat102@aol.com or http://www.globalthink.net/.

 

 

Paul Hollrah

 

Clearly, the Obama Administration is adopting a stance on Islamic terrorism based on the old adage that, if you'll only be nice to the alligator he may eat you last. With Janet Napalitano as head of Homeland Security all we can expect for certain is that the American people will become the most sleep-deprived people on the face of the Earth.

 

- Paul Hollrah is a Senior Fellow at the Lincoln Heritage Institute.

J. D. Longstreet

 

It means the utter naiveté of the Obama Administration and their near childish, “deer caught in the headlights” innocence, is on display for the world to see. It reinforces the view of modern America as totally inept with an alarming lack of the necessary skills to deal with the reality of a world under siege. It announces loud and clear that “America can be rolled.” 

 

- J.D. Longstreet is a 30-year veteran of the broadcasting business as an "in the field" and "on-air" news reporter (contributing to radio, TV, and newspapers),a broadcast commentator and a veteran of the U.S. Army and U.S. Army Reserve.

 

Adrian Morgan

 

A Ruse By Any Other Name...?

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano seems worlds away from her predecessor, Michael Chertoff. Her recent explanation that she prefers to use the term "man-caused disasters" to the word "terrorism" can only set off alarm bells. This reinvention of reality smacks of timidity, and ultimately weakness. Homeland Security is about tough decisions on real issues, not candy-coating actual dangers with euphemisms. I have seen frequent European attempts to rename Islamic terrorism – by the EU in 2005, in 2006 and again in 2008 – but Napolitano is going a step further. Her job is to combat terrorist threats, not to mangle the English language with PC-speak nonsense. Will terrorists – sorry, causers of disasters – respect her for it? I doubt it. Ultimately, Napolitano has decided to paint the elephant in the living room in pastel shades so it blends harmoniously with the wallpaper. A camouflaged elephant will still destroy the living room.

 

- Adrian Morgan is a British-based writer and artist who has written for Western Resistance since its inception. He also writes for Spero News.

 

 Tom Ordeman, Jr.

Words are important, and the proper, precise, and nuanced use of language by government officials is critical, no matter the topic. The Bush Administration was, to some degree, rightfully accused of using language that implied that Americans should be afraid of threats to the nation. After a number of early political setbacks, the Obama Administration seems to be poised to err too far to the other side of the linguistic spectrum by implying to Americans and their allies that there is no reason for fear – simultaneously implying to America's enemies that the new administration underestimates the severity of internal and external threats to national and global security. 

 

The truth is that the threat of "man-caused disasters," as phrased by Secretary Janet Napolitano of the Department of Homeland Security, is an intentionally nebulous and wholly insufficient substitute for words like "terrorism" and "attack." The Obama Administration may rightfully wish to distance itself from Bush-era rhetoric that may no longer accurately portray the state of security in this nation. However, prominent members of an administration whose whirlwind electoral victory was based largely on its command of elegant and precise prose ought to be able to accurately and realistically describe enduring threats to citizens of America and her allies, and they ought to be able to do so without watering down the language used to describe the specific dangers of potential violent attacks. Under no circumstances should the language used to describe terrorism consist of phrases like "man-caused disasters," which could just as easily come from the polemic about the alleged impact of climate change – two threats that are wholly unrelated and inherently different from one another.

 

 The United States is under very real threats, and while Americans should not be afraid, their government (particularly an agency like the Department of Homeland Security) must clearly and honestly demonstrate a realistic understanding of those threats, and the confident resolve needed to prevent those threats from harming this great nation. To borrow recent line from another prominent Obama Administration official, such rhetorical ambiguity is profoundly "unhelpful," and unbecoming of any administration which is tasked with the sacred responsibility of safeguarding America's national security.

 

- Tom Ordeman, Jr. is a technical writer for a major defense contractor in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

 

 

Bob Parks

With their on-going attempts not to be judgmental, our left-leaning administration is playing more "just words" games. In yet another liberal (i.e. Dixie Chicks) overseas, let-your-guard-down-because-Americans-won't-hear-about-this interview…

 

DER SPIEGEL: Madame Secretary, in your first testimony to the U.S. Congress as Homeland Security Secretary you never mentioned the word "terrorism." Does Islamist terrorism suddenly no longer pose a threat to your country?

 

JANET NAPOLITANO: Of course it does. I presume there is always a threat from terrorism. In my speech, although I did not use the word "terrorism," I referred to "man-caused" disasters. That is perhaps only a nuance, but it demonstrates that we want to move away from the politics of fear toward a policy of being prepared for all risks that can occur.

 

So a terror bombing, tearing to pieces innocent civilians in markets, roadsides, and discos, is a "man-caused" disaster.

 

What a ditz.

 

-Bob Parks is an internationally-read political and social columnist. E-mail Bob at blackandright@gmail.com

 

 

Ben Shapiro

 

When you can't acknowledge you're in a war, there's no way to win the war. We've already downgraded the threat from Islamic terrorism to terrorism. Now we're downgrading it to "man-made disaster." Man-made disaster is code for blaming society more broadly for particular acts of violence and murder – it's equating terrorism with global warming.

 

- Ben Shapiro is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School. He is also the author of the recently published Project President: Bad Hair and Botox on the Road to the White House.

 

   

W. Thomas Smith, Jr.

This has nothing to do with the "politics of fear" – as she and so many on the Left like to say – and everything to do with the politically correct semantics of denial. It is frighteningly obvious that Ms. Napolitano has no clue whom she is dealing with, much less how to fight them. But what should we expect? Her equally clueless boss wants to sit down and have tea with them on the one hand, and announce to the world our strategic military withdrawal plans on the other. Frankly, the withdrawal announcement -- including dates – is what disturbs me most, because it is a blatant violation of two principles of war – security and surprise – that not even a freshman cadet or midshipman would violate.

 - Visit W. Thomas Smith Jr. at uswriter.com. 

 Tim Wilson

 

Janet Napolitano typifies the privileged Liberal elites who have taken over D.C. She has never had to worry about being physically bullied or attacked. But she also has ambition and an ego large enough to believe her view of the world is more appropriate than that of almost anyone else. As such, she wants to impose her view on everyone else, and will verbally and/or legally bully them to achieve her aims. Sadly, her lack of worldly experience makes her incapable of understanding that there are people who are not criminals, but mad, bad and/or utterly misguided and who wish all of us harm. Some of them run countries, typically tyrannies, and use the resources of their nation to attack America and its allies. Others are fanatics who despise our freedoms and way of life, or are envious of our collective success. Then there are the criminals who just want to steal or destroy, some of them are in positions of power too – a concept incomprehensible to the likes of Napolitano. A soft talker peddling soft policies, she is entirely unsuited to defend anyone, except in a court where Law Enforcement officers will put themselves at risk to keep her safe from physical attack. As the Head of a "front line" Department in the defense of the nation, Napolitano's lack of tried and tested resolve make her another national weakness. Her use of words defines her – soft to our enemies and therefore dangerous to us.

 

- Tim Wilson is a retired British Army officer who now works as an independent consultant.

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 Take Our Latest Pol: DHS Doesn't Use the Word "TERRORISM"

 

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Brought to you by the editors and research staff of FamilySecurityMatters.org.

[ken21]

the left renames everything.

call it control.

[onedoug]

Pan-islamists should be killed en masse.

How many muslims are islamists?

[mathurine]

Ya, ya, they’re depraved because they’re deprived; just acting out; lack a fully formed sense of boundaries; just got a little carried away this time; Bush made them do it; same old same old to disguise the fact that mohammedenism is evil. Mohammedism is evil. Get it? Got it? Good! Let’s not pussyfoot around unless, of course, we’re pussies.

[MrB]

The left renames everything to hide the evil that the name identifies.

IE, “dilation and extraction” instead of “murdering a fully formed baby”.

[elpadre]

I know this in contrary to the ways of Washington, but the best language to use in all situations, especially when dealing with foreigners, friends or enemies, is language which accurately describes whatever it is. There is no substitute for truth and accuracy..

Whether it is Islamic terrorism, or radical terrorism, murderers, madmen, or whatever, call a spade a spade.

Speak the truth and stand by it.

[MrB]

Time to stop trying to pick up the turd by the clean end.

PC must be actively opposed.

[PGalt]

Great post & homepage. Thanks. Good to see Bob’s quote :) in the mix.

[ANGGAPO]

It's the connotation associated to the term that counts.
Terrorist = Someone that wishes to kill you.
Islamofascist = Someone that wishes to kill you.
OR
Terrorist = An unhappy social misfit.
Islamofascist = An unhappy religious misfit.

[Righting]

THE NAZI CONNECTION TO ISLAMIC TERRORISM

By Samuel Blumenfeld

April 15, 2004

NewsWithViews.com

Chuck Morse's latest book, The Nazi Connection to Islamic Terrorism, Adolf Hitler and Haj Amin al-Husseini, provides the clearest, most incisive history of how Islamo-fascism and Jihad terrorism have become the dominant political philosophy in the Arab world. It is the untold story of how Nazism took root in the Islamic world through the untiring efforts of the Mufti of Jerusalem whose aim it was to destroy the Jews in Palestine. Morse writes:

The Nazi Holocaust appears to have kicked into high gear on November 25, 1941 during a Berlin meeting between the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini (1895-1974) and the Nazi Fuhrer of Germany, Adolf Hitler. At that well-documented meeting, Hitler promised al-Husseini, the Palestinian pan-Arab leader, that after securing a dominant military position in Europe, he would send the Wehrmacht, the Nazi war machine, on a blitzkrieg across the Caucasus and into the Arab world under the guise of liberating the Arabs from British occupation.

It should be noted that merely two months after the Hitler-Husseini meeting, the famous Wansee Conference took place in which the Nazis produced their plan to exterminate the Jews of Europe...

After reading this book you will have no trouble understanding the origin of Islamo-fascism and Jihad terrorism. The author has packed the book with detailed documentation as well as photographs showing Husseini inspecting his Nazi-Muslim troops. Morse shows how Husseini’s legacy of hate and murder and his aim to destroy Israel have been carried forth by Arafat and his murderous Palestinian terrorists right to the present.
http://www.newswithviews.com/Blumenfeld/Samuel17.htm

[steve8714]

“Enemy combatants”? No, they are merely conflict tourists who happened to get caught on the battlefield by mistake.

[Secret Agent Man]

Harm, not help.

Turns the people who want to label the situation accurately into the problem, not the terrorists themselves. It diminishes the overall severity of the entire issue.

[phillyfanatic]

The fact that we have a socialist pacifist Administration, is proof that Islamofascism by any other name is winning this global battle. The naif in the WH will whittle away our military advantage. Schools will teach us that Islamos are just misunderstood. In W. NY, we have seen whole villages being set up by black Muslims and not allowing any investigation of their little village. We know that there are 40,000 Muslims in Detroit and other areas where mosques are being built and not being investigated. For me, historically, I cannot see one contribution any of these Islamists have made to American democracy, freedom, enterprise. But, to distrust them, is ......oh you guessed it, hate, illogical, nativism, and unfair. So people keep quiet as our freedoms slowly disappear.