Is it good to name ‘Islamic’ terrorism?

believe that if a terrorist attack is perpetrated by one or more Muslims, to say so is pointless at best, and counterproductive or even prejudicial at worst. Others say that it is essential to call out these attacks acts of “radical Islamic terrorism.” President Obama famously argues the first point of view. He calls the terrorist attack in 2009 by Nidal Hassan, the military psychiatrist, “workplace violence.” He calls the terrorist attack in Orlando an act of “terror,” but not of radical Islamic terror. Obama scrupulously avoids the term “Islam” in any of its adjectival, adverbial or noun forms in reference to terrorist attacks perpetrated by Muslims. He says, first of all, this is pointless. The US is going after its enemies, such as members […]