September 13, 2014
It Depends on What the Meaning of IS is
Stet is that proofreader’s mark that means “keep it that way.” We say keep it ISIS. President Obama was at pains on Wednesday night to reassure the world that ISIS is not Islamic. As National Review’s Jonah Goldberg put it, they sure aren’t Lutheran or Buddhist. The president will find it hard to rally the troops for a necessary response to terrorism when he cannot name the target.
So, what is IS? Doubtless, it depends on what your definition of IS is. Where’s that seasoned statesman Bill Clinton when you need him?
Mr. Obama’s confusion on this point is of a piece with his entire administration’s kid glove approach to the threat of international jihad. His CIA chief, John Brennan, refuses even to say the word “jihad” in the terror context because he said it was a legitimate tenet of a religion. If that is so, then that statement is pretty damning.
ISIS first called itself the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria....(Read Full Article)