The issue is created simply by differing translations, both of which are correct, but both of which also carry inaccurate connotations.
Offhand, ISIL sounds more accurate to me, since ISIS implies the modern country of Syria. But I use ISIS, because how often do you get to reference an ancient Egyptian goddess in modern political discussions?
MO calling them ISIL merely supports there overall goal which includes Israel, Jordan and others. When we and the hero of Benghazi use the term we support the threat agains their country.
We should call them ISIS and show we don’t buy into it.
You mean, Obama consistently calling them ISIL has nothing to do with rewritting the map of the Middle East and falling into the trap of not recognizing the existence of Israel and also Lebanon? Because as Allen West points out, if you use ISIL you are then validating the Islamic totalitarian and jihadist claim that the modern day Jewish State of Israel is an occupation state and does not exist in the eyes of Muslims.
Read more at http://allenbwest.com/2014/08/obamas-use-isil-reveals-true-allegiance-animus-towards-israel/#HAfTPbiGWqptZbJ3.99
Everyone is using term ISIS. The question is why Obama persists in using ISIL. He is odd man out. We know the answer - his failure in Iraq and Syria.
the name “ Da‘sh”...may cause some confusion in certain...”communities”/
If not that, then perhaps the RRSIS? The Ray Rice State of Iraq and Syria?
O’bastard uses ISIL because he wants to give them some holy Mooselimb historic credibility.
This has been bothering me too. I am reading Philip Mansel's history of the area: "Levant: Splendour and Catastrophe on the Mediterranean," Yale U Press, 2010.
The map at the beginning of the book shows the Levant of 1930, which includes
Athens,
Gallipoli,
Constantinople,
Smyrna (today Izmir),
Iskanderun,
Aleppo,
Tripoli,
Beirut,
Damascus,
Sidon,
Haifa,
Jaffa,
Jerusalem,
Cairo,
Alexandria.
WE know that these idiots, who are living in the seventh century of mohammed, consider 1930 part of today. So, Obama's "ISIL" has an extraordinarily chilling meaning. He is fully aware of what he's broadcasting to the muslim world.
Depends on what the meaning of IS IS....................
This article is beside the point. Does he really think scholarship has anything to do with the fact that the administration decided not to use the same term as the rest of the country? As if they just so happen to have the only experts who settled on the “ISIL” translation.
What is this “there’s no difference” b.s.? There’s not much difference between a democracy and a republic, since republics most often are representative democracies and hardly any democracy is purely majoritarian. Nevertheless, people hardly ever refer to our system of government as a republic, and either have a motive in pushing the word “democracy” or are the unconscious creatures of those who do. Likewise, some people throw a fit when our system isn’t referred to as a “republic,” even though they believe in nearly all the tenets of democracy.
Point is, words are weapons in the struggle for power, and they mean as much as they make people feel in day to day political squabbling as what’s written in dictionaries. It’s all well to float above politics and tell us what words mean, but aside from the fact that Pipes is an ideological hack who’s long sold his soul to the day to day, what people really want to know is why Obama uses an acronym different from the rest of the country, not the etymology of “Levant.”
The difference reflects the hopes of the Sultan in Washington. ISIL- Islamic State in the Levant includes Israel. The Sultan is being forced to drop some bombs and is doing that as sparingly as possible. He doesn’t want to hurt his heroes and coreligionists. He also intends that if ISIS(L) wins out then the Islamic Levant will include a destroyed Israel.
SA vs SS comes to mind. They’re both evil.
“But I use ISIS, because how often do you get to reference an ancient Egyptian goddess in modern political discussions?”
I think this is exactly why Obama doesn’t use it. He knows that calling their group by the name of a pagan goddess would be viewed as an insult by devout Muslims, which is why he avoids it.
Tomato, to-mah to...potato, po-tah-to...
Also known as:
I SUK
As meaningless as Obama’s attempt to force the use of the Islamic name for Jerusalem. I have little doubt about the goals of the caliphate, but at the same time I have little doubt who Obama will side with if “things go badly”.
I think the REAL reason Obama uses ISIL instead of ISIS is that he sent money and weapons to them in Syria when they were using the name ISIS.
It is in his best interest to call them ISIL now, so that he can continue to fool his low-information supporters (who are the only people who still think there might be a difference) in to believing his claims that he has always opposed them.