Language and Islamic terrorists

Here is an article the BBC would do well to train it's journalists with.


THE LONG, twilight struggle against Islamo-fascism requires civilization to deploy numerous weapons against this implacable foe. As usual, these will include intelligence, covert operations, and high-tech armaments. But another vital tool is language. How Americans and our allies speak and write about this conflict will influence when and how victory will come.

Here are five ways language can underscore the dangers of Islamic terrorism:

Victims of terrorism do not “die,” nor are they “lost.” People “die” in hospitals, often surrounded by their loved ones while doctors and nurses offer them aid and comfort. In contrast, innocent people were killed on September 11 at the World Trade Center, the Defense Department, and that field in Shanksville, Penn. in a carefully choreographed act of mass murder.

And as the article points out, the world would do well to listen closely to what the leaders of Islam say.

Quote Islamo-fascist leaders to remind people of their true intentions. Prominent Americans can explain how deadly militant Islam is and how seriously we should consider this toxic ideology. Far more impressive, however, is to let these extremists do the talking.

As Osama bin Laden and Ayman al Zawahiri said in their 1998 declaration of war on the United States: “The ruling to kill all Americans and their allies — civilian and military — is an individual duty for every Muslim who can do it in any country in which it is possible to do it.”

As the late Iranian dictator, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, stated in 1980: “Our struggle is not about land or water. . . It is about bringing, by force if necessary, the whole of mankind onto the right path.”

[Which is why they held a rally in Texas for Khomeini.]

Khomeini, ever the comedian, said this in 1986: “Allah did not create man so that he could have fun. The aim of creation was for mankind to be put to the test through hardship and prayer. An Islamic regime must be serious in every field. There are no jokes in Islam. There is no humor in Islam. There is no fun in Islam. There can be no fun and joy in whatever is serious.”

Asked what he would say to the loved ones of the 202 people killed in the October 2002 Bali nightclub explosions, Abu Bakar Bashir, the al-Qaida-tied leader of Indonesia’s radical Jemaah Islamiyah, replied, “My message to the families is, please convert to Islam as soon as possible.”

Want to see what 25 years of Islam looks like in Iran? Go here. GRAPHIC WARNING!
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