Charles Allen, the senior intelligence official at the Department of Homeland Security, has recently decried using the term “War on Terror” saying that it creates “animus” in Islamic countries.

According to Financial Times: 

“[It] has nothing to do with political correctness,” Mr Allen said in an interview. “It is interpreted in the Muslim world as a war on Islam and we don’t need this.”

Allen is a CIA veteran who has spent most of his 50 year career fighting terrorism.

Michael Chertoff, the Homeland Security secretary, disagrees that the term, coined by President Bush in the wake of the September 11 terrorism attacks, is suggestive of a war on Islam.

Peter Hoekstra, the top Republican on the House intelligence committee, on the other hand, agrees with Allen calling the phrase “dumbest term…you could use”. He has urged the Bush Administration, especially Stephen Hadley, the national security adviser, not to use the expression.

Financial Times also points out that military personnel often use the same vocabulary as the President:

While the military in general tends to echo the langauge of the president, Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs who recently met with moderate Muslim leaders to hear their concerns, tries to ensure his language does not create the perception of a war against Islam, Captain John Kirby, his spokesman, said.

“The chairman is aware of the concerns voiced by many in the Muslim community about the phrase ‘war on terror’,” Captain Kirby said.

“He is committed – when speaking of it – to focusing his language and efforts on the violent extremists we are fighting. This is not a war on Islam. It’s a war against lethal enemies who are using a warped view of that faith to justify killing innocent civilians.”

While the Admiral might be using the term in a way that he feels is “focusing… on the violent extremists we are fighting” individuals in the Muslim community might not feel the same way. The terms “War on Terror”, “Islamic Terrorists”, and “Islamo-Fascists” tend to bear negative connotations for Islamic people by equating the religion itself with terrorism.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, May 29th, 2008 at 4:30 pm and is filed under CIA, Charles Allen, DHS, Homeland Security, War on Terror. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.