Call Them What They Are

Why do terrorist organizations get to choose what we call them?

Al-Qaeda literally means “The Law (of God)”. The terrorist organization with that name is anything but that. Almost all terrorist organizations have names that stand for something good or sacred or something worth fighting (and killing!) for.

Those names do not matter for people who do not know the meaning of those phrases. Those names are just means of communication. And that is what they should be.

But for a young and innocent mind who speaks Arabic, sentences like “US vows to disrupt, defeat and dismantle al-Qaeda”  can be a little confusing. And isn’t that literally what the terrorists would have people believe?

So, I propose that the free media stop falling for it. Call them what they are, not what they want us to believe they are.

The main challenge in doing so is for the international media to agree on a common name for a particular group. We don’t want to address the same group by different names in different newspapers. But I believe that with the open access to information that we have with the internet today, and with the sharp, educated and creative minds that wok in the media, it should not be an impossible task.

So, address them as bin-Laden’s network or 9/11 killers or terrorists in NW Pakistan – anything works for me. But do take from them the undeserved privilege of making up a name for themselves.