TrueSpeak Essays

Winning the War of Words -- And, Only Thus, The War of Ideas

Throughout the War on al Qaeda-style Terrorism, many counter-terrorism experts have correctly ascribed great importance to the "War of Ideas" and "War of Words" aspects of this life and death conflict...

Judeo-Christian "Rights of Liberty" (and Muslim "Rights of Justice," as well ???)

One of the well-intended but mistaken recommendations made by Muslim academics and others to the Department of Homeland Security -- which passed it on to the public as part of a "Words That Matter" advisory -- was the idea that in the War on al Qaeda-style Terrorism we should downplay the word "Liberty" (and presumably "Democracy," as well) and should favor the word "progress" in the Muslim World, instead.

"War of Words" Advisories -- Well Intended But Just a STUMBLING START

In recent days, many "war of words" op-ed essays and editorials have been posted by both the print media and the Internet -- and appropriately so, for the complex issues of language and labeling they raise must surely be resolved far more adequately than is now the case.

Comrade Putin: Merely Communoid or full-fledged CommieCzar??

As the year 2008 begins, and in keeping with Tsun Tsu's admonition that we take care to "Know the Enemy" -- and even the potential enemy -- we would do well to decide what truthful labels to apply to the increasingly assertive and even confrontational Russian President, Vladimir Putin.

"Venezuela, Si !! ... CUBAzuela, NO !!"

In a "Small Wars" context but with very serious implications relating to the worldwide Cold War II now being waged between (a) America and the West on the one hand and (b) our new "Islamo-fascist" enemies and some of our "Socialist" enemies from Cold War I on the other, there was recently a close electoral victory for our side in Venezuela.

Marine General James Mattis -- Attacking the al Qaeda "Narrative"

In his June 2007 State Department E-Journal article, "New Paradigms For 21st Century Conflicts," (posted in SWJ.com on June 23), Dr. Dave Kilcullen of General David Petraeus' senior staff in Baghdad called for, among other things, a "New Lexicon" for better defining and more effectively defeating enemies which subscribe to the faith-based mantra of "Death to America, the Great Satan."

Accuracy in Media Response Re: "Irhabi Murderdom"

In a recent article in the Family Security Matters website -- innocently re-printed by AIM.org on July 18 -- Lebanese expatriot Dr. Walid Phares quite sharply, and by name, attacked me and three like-minded anti-terrorism strategists (Dr. Michael Waller of the Institute for World Politics, Dr. Doug Streussand of the Marine Corps Staff and Command College and Col. Harry Tunnell of the National Defense University).

"Read Ahead" Document for Lectures

Dear Fellow Word Warriors: As a "read ahead" for the TrueSpeak lecture and Q&A session you will soon be attending, I am pleased to share with you a truth-in-language and truth-in-Islam thesis of mine in the vital "war of words" and "hearts, minds and souls" aspects -- namely, the vital spiritual and intellectual aspects -- of the broader war on al Qaeda-style Terrorism.

Petraeus Aide's Call For A "NEW LEXICON"

In his multi-faceted article, "New Paradigms For 21st Century Conflict," David Kilcullen of General David Petraeus' senior staff in Baghdad recommends five major initiatives to be taken in developing truly effective counterterrorism (COIN) strategies, operations and tactics against al Qaeda-style Terrorism (AQST).

Unwarranted Attack on Petraeus Aide

Diana West's holier-than-thou attack on Dr. David Kilcullen of Gen. David Petraeus' senior staff in Baghdad must be a delight to al Qaeda and Hizballah propagandists and anti-American brainwashers worldwide.

More on Religion and Insurgency

David Kilcullen of General David Petraeus' staff in Baghdad makes a fine start but has much farther to go in attacking the pseudo-religious scam of al Qaeda-style Terrorism (AQST) in Islamic religious terms.

Name That War If You Absolutely Must ... But Don't Just Stop There!!!

Max Boot's April 25, 2007 "Name That War" column in the Wall Street Journal describes in great detail the enormous amount of time and energy being expended on the issue of what the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) should be called INSTEAD : the Long War, the War on IslamoFascism, the War on Militant Extremism, the War on "Whatyamacallit," etc.

"War on Terrorism" (AQ-style Terrorism) Is the Correct Label

Peter Beinert's "The War of the Words" essay in the Washington Post (Op-ed, April 1) is seriously lacking on several counts. He demonstrates the same blind spots and faulty analysis as the Pelosi-Murtha House Democrats do when they issue a cut-and-run document which, along with other nonsense, condemns use of the "Global War on Terrorism" label.

Pope John Paul's "Rights of Liberty" (and Islam's "Rights of Justice," as well)

In the religious words and labels by which Islam defines itself, the terms "democracy" and "liberty" and "human rights" do not exist as such. All of these concepts do exist, however, under the umbrella of the powerful word "Justice" -- al Adl' in Arabic and in the Quran.

"CUBAZUELA" -- New Castroite Face of "Death to America" Terrorism

A major January 27, 2007 editorial in the Washington Post, which is normally oblivious to Leftist threats to US national security, was entitled "Venezuela's Satellites." Correctly, it painted a dangerous picture of the rabid anti-Americanism which has spread in recent years from communist Cuba to three neo-Socialist regimes in South and Central America.

Three Mini Glossaries to Fellow Word Warriors (Updated)

At the request of several "word warriors" on my lists, here is an update of a late-2006 memo which lists more than a dozen of the Arabic and Islamic words we will need to break out of the habit-of-language box which currently makes us the bad guys and anoints the al Qaeda-style suicide mass murderers as the so-called jihadi "holy guys."

"IRHABI MURDERDOM" - not "Jihadi Martyrdom"

In certain absolutist schools of Islamic thought, many Muslims consider most "other" Muslims to be khawarij (outside the religion), kuffar (unbelievers), munafiquun (hypocrites) or murtadduun (apostates) - the latter transgression being subject to the death penalty in this life and to Jahannam (eternal Hellfire) in the next.

John Kerry's "AWOL Dump" On America at a Time of War

On the same day that "Hanoi Jane" Fonda was on the National Mall dumping on US foreign policy at a time of war in Iraq and worldwide, her former Vietnam Era comrade-in-arms John "AWOL" Kerry was doing very much the same destructive thing at the World Economic Forum in Doha, Switzerland.

IS IT HOLY "JIHAD" - OR UNHOLY "IRHABI MURDERDOM" ???

Earlier "TrueSpeak" articles in this truth-in-language and truth-in-Islam series have regretted the failure of US Public Diplomacy, led by Under Secretary of State Karen Hughes, to aggressively attack and to de-legitimize al Qaeda's fraudulent "Jihad Against America and the West" -- and to do so not in Western secular terms only but in Osama bin Laden's own language, his own culture and, especially, his own religion.

Urgent Need For Truth-In-Language In US Public Diplomacy

Along with its many recommendations, some realistic and some dead-on-arrival, this week's Report of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group (ISG) features a major blind spot -- the same Public Diplomacy deficiency which currently emanates from the State and Defense Departments, the White House and the Intelligence Community.

Iraq and Vietnam -- Correctly Remembering BOTH Vietnam Wars

Now that the recent elections have put them in narrow control of Congress, many partisan Senate Democrats -- led by Senators Kennedy, Kerry, Durkin, Schumer, Clinton, Biden and others -- will again be trying to equate the current, highly difficult peacekeeping and democratization missions in Iraq with the "quagmire" in Vietnam almost four decades ago.

Three Mini Glossaries to Fellow Word Warriors

Here are more than a dozen of the Arabic and Islamic words we will need to break out of the habit-of-language box which currently makes us the bad guys and anoints the al Qaeda-style suicide mass murderers as the jihadi "holy guys." The ubiquitous (it's everywhere!) word Jihad is entered four times in order to more clearly define its several meanings.

Islam: A Great Religion of Peace and Justice ... or a Cult of "Jihadi MURDERdom"

As the media and Internet remind us daily, there is a continuing element of anger (some earnest, some staged and hyped) and even a smattering of violence across the Muslim World over Pope Benedict's recent quoting of an ancient charge that Islam is a violent "religion of the sword."

Defining Evil -- Is al Qaeda "Fascist" or "Leninist" or BOTH?

Several weeks after President George W. Bush uttered the "Islamofascist" and "Islamic Fascists" invectives for al Qaeda-style Terrorism, a heated controversy continues as to whether either of these highly condemnatory terms is appropriate to the situation.

Unmasking al Qaeda and Hizballah as the True Enemies of Islam

As a promised sequel to the recent FSM article which proposed more than a dozen new words for inclusion in English language dictionaries and glossaries, here are an equal number of truthful Arabic and Islamic words which we should take time to learn and to use in ways which begin to demonize al Qaeda and Hizballah killers as effectively as they are currently demonizing us.

The "99 Names of Allah" vs The al Qaeda Apostasy

Al Qaeda propaganda, enormously enhanced by a largely anti-American "Western" media and embraced by radical elements of the "Arab Street,", continues to paint a false picture of America as attacking Islam, as desecrating the Quran and as insulting the Prophet.

Post-Castro and Post-bin Laden -- The Similarities Will Abound

At a time when reactionary-Left illiberals throughout American and Western society continue to whitewash the horrendous human rights record of Fidel Castro's police-state in Cuba, it is prudent that we take a close look at just who this aging "Socialism or Death" tyrant actually is.

Politicians Gone AWOL: Always Weak On Liberty

After three duplicitous years of flip-flopping and voting both for and against various elements of the lightning-fast liberation and the glacially-slow democratization of Iraq, the "real" John Kerry has decided to stand up and be counted -- or, at long last, to be discounted as totally unprincipled.

Al-Zarqawi's Apostasy

Always posing as the noble al Qaeda "Lion" (so designated by Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri) but always acting like the ignoble and bloodthirsty al Qaeda Hyena -- Thebah al-Qaeda -- which he actually was, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead.

Islam's Real Enemy - the Al Qaeda Apostasy

For several months, a worldwide controversy has been smoldering over whether an Afghan believer in the God of Abraham, Abdul Rahman, should be put to death under Afghan Shari'ah (local Islamic law) for having converted many years ago from Islam to Christianity.

Behind Al Qaeda's Mask of "Jihad" -- The Satanic Face of "Hirabah"

Just as the European Union is correct to be designing a new lexicon for the ongoing "war of words" against al Qaeda-style Terrorism, so was US Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld correct when he recently graded America and the West no better than D or D-plus in our efforts to win the "war of ideas" against Osama bin Laden's suicide mass murderers -- a.k.a., so-called "Jihadis" and "holy warriors."

AQ's Unholy War Insults the Prophet" -- NOT the Cartoons

For the last three weeks, major parts of the Muslim World -- spurred on by al Qaeda, and Iranian tyrannies and others who seek to distract attention from their own criminal and sinful ways -- have been seething in anger, flag burning and even death threats. Their fury, some actual and some faked for the cameras, is triggered by several cartoons pubished in Denmark six months ago which were disrespectful of the Prophet Muhammad.

Dispatched to Hellfire by a "Hellfire" Missile

The CIA's recent termination of several high-ranking al Qaeda operatives in Pakistan by a Hellfire missile attack from an unmanned Predator aircraft has produced relatively little public protest in that Muslim country -- or elsewhere in the Umma, the Muslim World. Protesters to date have been in the hundreds, rather than in the hundreds of thousands.

Al Qaeda's Satanic War Against Society -- "Hirabah" Is Its Name

From its inception in the form of unauthorized and un-Islamic fatwas (religious edicts) in 1996 and 1998, Osama bin Laden's so-called "Jihad Against America and the West" is nothing but a pseudo-Islamic scam. It is no more "holy" or "godly" than the genocidal haters and killers who concocted and are fomenting it.

TRUTH IN LANGUAGE VITAL IN US PUBLIC DIPLOMACY

Bush political confidante and former White House staffer Karen Hughes has prudently taken a "listening trip" approach to her new role as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

A Good Start -- But Much Tougher Fatwas Are Needed

The July 28, 2005 anti-terrorism fatwa (religious edict) by thirteen distinguished Islamic scholars and jurists of the Fiqh Council of North America was well intentioned and Quranically correct as far as it went. But, like the British Muslim Council's fatwa of July 15, it simply did not go nearly far enough.

FIQH COUNCIL OF NORTH AMERICA ISSUES FATWA AGAINST TERRORISM

The Fiqh Council of North America wishes to reaffirm Islam's absolute condemnation of terrorism and religious extremism.

Pleading To The NSC About the "War on Terrorism" Label

According to media reports, National Security Council strategists may be planning to drop the word "Terrorism" from the long-standing name for our war on al Qaeda-style suicide mass murder -- in favor of the word "Extremism." In view of the possible "down sides" of such a change, here are several factors the NSC planners should weigh before reaching a final decision...

Bush to Muslims : A "Declaration of Dignity"

One of the great irritants within today's Muslim psyche is the factor of humiliation -- thul in Arabic and in Islam. Understandably, there is a deep "hearts-minds-and-souls" resentment toward those perceived as holding Islam and its faithful in low esteem, as inferior and undeserving of respect.

FREE MUSLIMS AGAINST TERRORISM -- FreeMuslims.org

We, Muslims in America and Canada appreciate this courageous step by the Spanish Muslim clerics and we seek to support them and go one step further by offering a road map to winning the ideological battle against all terrorists who justify their crimes by relying on a fascist misinterpretation of Islam.

Spanish Muslims' Fatwa of "Jihad Against al Qaeda"

On Friday, March 11, the first anniversary of Spain's 3-11 version of America's 9-11 atrocity by al Qaeda terrorists, a remarkable thing happened in Madrid. A large number of clerics from the Islamic Conference of Spain issued a very tough fatwa (religious edict) which went so far as to condemn Osama bin Laden as an "apostate" and as a "kafir" (an infidel) to authentic, Quranic Islam.

TrueSpeak Advisory to DoD in the "War of Words" and "War of Ideas"

1. Seek a modest change in the current DoD "guidance" which advises that we avoid almost all Islamic religious words -- modified merely so as to...

"COMING CLEAN" ON IRAQI WMD IN SYRIA

Over the past several months, all candidates for the Democratic Party's nomination for the presidency and most elements of the establishment media have joined forces in accusing the Bush Administration of exaggerating, hyping and deceiving with regard to the issue of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Iraq.

Properly Condemning the Al Qaeda Blasphemy

Although not unanimously, most of the five panelists in the Christian Coalition's Saturday, February 15 symposium on Islam focused equally on the future of Israel, instead. In so doing, they generally applauded the Bush Administration's support of Israel but criticized the President's friendly policy toward most Muslim-American socio-political organizations--some of which have enjoyed financial support from Saudi Arabian government and even Wahhabi sources.

It's Not Jihad. It's Unholy Hirabah (forbidden War Against Society)

In recent months, many Americans have managed to learn several Arabic and Islamic religious words -- mostly chosen for us by Yassir Arafat, Osama bin Laden, and their followers.