No, that's not right. Of course, you get different meanings for "jihad" depending on who you ask...but that makes the point.
Most informed individuals understand "jihad" to mean "struggle".
I agree with the other poster and Dobbs. "Islamists" are exactly what we are up against. "Jihad" is ambiguous.
While "Islamist" may not be adequately pc, it's spot on.
Most informed individuals understand "jihad" to mean "struggle".
I agree with the other poster and Dobbs. "Islamists" are exactly what we are up against. "Jihad" is ambiguous.
While "Islamist" may not be adequately pc, it's spot on.
First of all, FR is nothing if not the bastion of cliches, and people imitating "clever" phrases which show a a lack of imagination and a tin ear. "Spot on" seems to be the current FR phrase for people who dont mind beating words into the ground.
Second, the War Against Islamists, while accurate, sounds dumb. It is like saying The War Against Nazis, or The War Against Communists. Only a tin ear could let it pass without flinching. It sounds juvenile because it personalizes and diminishes the nature of the war. Plus, "Islamists" is not a word which has any rhetorical punch; it is abstract, and a tedious word for English speakers to pronounce.
The War on Jihad is the perfect name for this war. No sentient Westerner thinks that "Jihad" is ambiguous ... do you? We know exactly what Arafat means when he shakes his fist and shouts "Jihad, Jihad, Jihad" We know what OBL meant when he was alive and referred to "Jihad."
Who cares what the meaning of the word might be from the perspective of an Islamic scholar? We know what we understand it to mean, and the blaspheming, barbarian Moslems know what they mean by it, which is exactly what we understand it to mean. The War on Jihad takes their word and shoves it up their posteriors. The War Against Islamists sounds like an Ivy League lecture given by Noam Chomsky or Edward Said.
Plus, and here is the beauty part: The War on Jihad sounds good, it sounds right, it sounds manly. The War Against Islamists sounds effeminate, indirect.
The War on Jihad defines the lines of opposition on our terms. But, since you and Dobbs didnt think it up, of course it is objectionable.