Thursday, September 25, 2014

Why Obama is Using 'ISIL' and Not 'ISIS"

Chuck Todd of Meet the Press explains:
"Obviously we refer to it at NBC News as ISIS. The Obama administration, president, says the word ISIL. The last S stands for Syria, the last L they don’t want to have stand for Syria."

The insinuation, according to WaPo, is that the country Obama decided to stay out of last year is also his Voldemort, better left unnamed.
NYT's Maureen Dowd has chimed in:
It’s a bit odd that the administration is using “the Levant,” given that it conjures up a colonial association from the early 20th century, when Britain and France drew their maps, carving up Mesopotamia guided by economic gain rather than tribal allegiances. Unless it’s a nostalgic nod to a time when puppets were more malleable and grateful to their imperial overlords.
-RW

2 comments:

  1. Whatever you call this tiny group of crazies, their existence is entirely the making of US foreign policy. America's repeated interventions, coups, occupations and senseless bombing campaigns, not to mention the foolish funding and arming "moderate" Syrian rebel groups, was the genesis for the Islamic State.

    IS is just a convenient and largely bogus excuse to bring death and destruction to Syria, overthrow Assad, and install a puppet regime more to the hegemon's liking. What they'll get is something more like what occurred in Libya: a sectarian civil war and the complete abandonment of civilized society.

    The only winners in this chaotic nightmare appear to be the Israelis - at least in the short term. But I suspect overthrowing secular dictators and leaving behind a political vacuum will not be in Tel Aviv's interest in the long run.

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  2. Obama didn't decide to stay out. He was all for going. In fact, he went, just not to the degree he wanted. If he had had his way last year, the consequence would be ISIS now fully in control of Syria and it's chemical weapons. I don't think this is what Obama wanted. He's just a idiot.

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