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Saturday, September 13, 2014

ISIS, ISIL Or Islamic State: What's In A Name?

The Obama administration favors the term ISIL. Many Western news outlets have switched to calling the group "the Islamic State." And in general, ISIS might be the most ubiquitous acronym.

All three terms refer to the terrorist group that rose to prominence this summer, taking over parts of Iraq and Syria, declaring a new caliphate and beheading two American journalists. Why is there so much disagreement over what, exactly, to call them?

Jonah Blank is a former staffer at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, where he advised Joe Biden and John Kerry when they were senatoars. He's now at the RAND Corp. think tank. He tells NPR's Steve Inskeep that the militant organization is waging a propaganda war — and what name it goes by is part of that war.

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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

OK......I am confused as to why ISIL would be preferred by the Whitehouse unless it is meant to stir the pot or just extend the scope of things to come. Put all future conflicts under one umbrella??? Does this extend war powers if war is declared???? What do you smart people think??

Anonymous said...

Here's the bottom line Turn them all to glass and ask the questions later. These groups have killed 2 Americans and all of them have 911 blood on there hands