If you compare the connotation of “domestic wiretapping” to “terrorism surveillance,” you know that the language we use has a major impact on the message we convey.
Driving back from lunch today, I heard Rush Limbaugh reference the word “jihad” while talking about the Moussaoui sentencing. The reference reminded me of the words retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney uttered during his John Locke Foundation-sponsored luncheon speech Wednesday in Wilmington:
“These kids think they’re going to die and go to heaven because they’re jihadists. We ought to change it. … We ought to call them mufsidoon. ‘Mufsidoon’ means you’re an unholy warrior. ‘Jihadist’ means you’re a holy warrior. A jihad is a holy war; a hirabah is an unholy war. If the imams declare an unholy war — and they’re unholy warriors — all of a sudden the car bombers go to zero.”
For those like me who are largely ignorant of the language, here’s more detail:
Hirabah (hee-RAH-bah) — Islam’s word for the forbidden wanton killing of innocents, non-combatants and even contrary Muslims; a terroristic “war against society” or, loosely speaking, an “Unholy War.”
mufsidoon (moof-see-DOON) — Islam’s word for those evildoers (President Bush?s favorite word for these criminals) who engage in such forbidden, terroristic warfare; roughly speaking, “unholy warriors.”
You’ll find those definitions and more at this site.
