The Tease of Things I Don't Need

Dropping the F-bomb on terrorism?

Tammy passed along a piece on fighting (some) terrorist organizations and international movements via feminism. The author at least immediately notes that the word itself is enough of a poison pill that it would have to be renamed for this effort. The bottom line is to lead an effort to press for education and human rights for women globally.

The piece is worthy of some consideration, starting with stepping away from the vague naming of the enemy as "terrorism" - though it's unlikely this administration will do it anytime soon, since keeping the enemy as a vague, intangible thing allows them to keep the fear going and maintain the level of political power they've had. As soon as people start to deal in facts, they're going to lose much of the dark mystery that has allowed them to operate so freely.

As for renaming the enemy as "extremist Islamic insurgency" I suggest we at least drop the "insurgency" - and be sure all the ducks are in a row concerning support from as many mainstream Islamic mullahs and clerics as possible, because the moment one attempts this redefinition of the enemy (however sensible) it reinforces the opposition's claim that this is, indeed, a religious war. Without a strong and credible push to represent that "true" Islam should be no more oppressive of women than other, major world religions ( which would be an interesting and lengthy argument in and of itself, in several respects) any such move would be like stepping back to Dubya's "Crusade" mis-step.

A closing aside: IMHO, the author - I'm still referencing the book excerpt - doesn't know when to shut up (a trait I'm intimately familiar with, yes) by ultimately looking to impose representational targets (essentially a gender quota) among political representatives here in the US.