CSIS alters slightly description of terrorists New terminology: 'Islamist' not 'Islamic' will be used for extremists
The Canadian Security Intelligence Service refers to those aligned with Osama bin Laden as "associated with the ideology of al-Qaeda." Photograph by : AFP, Getty Images Stewart Bell, National Post Published: Monday, March 26, 2007 TORONTO - Canada's intelligence service has changed the way it describes such terrorists as Osama bin Laden, dropping the word "Islamic" in favour of "Islamist." The Canadian Security Intelligence Service had been calling al-Qaeda types Sunni Islamic extremists, but they are now to be labelled Islamist extremists. "The service believes that the term Islamist is more appropriate given that it has ideological rather than religious connotations," CSIS spokeswoman Barbara Campion said. The terminology was adopted last year but is only coming to light now as intelligence reports reflecting the new wording are released under the Access to Information Act. Those aligned with bin Laden may also be described as "associated with the ideology of al- Qaeda." Reports published on the CSIS Web site will use the new terms. The change comes as counterterrorism officials are trying to build bridges with Muslims in the wake of last summer's arrest of 17 suspects accused of belonging to a terror group that plotted truck bombings in Toronto. Although many terrorist groups include references to Islam in their names and cite the religion to justify their violence, some Muslims are offended by language that links their religion to terrorism. In the Canadian Oxford Dictionary, "Islamic" is an adverb for "the religion of Muslims," while Islamist is a noun or adjective for "a political and cultural movement favouring the establishment of Islamic states." Tarek Fatah of the Canadian Muslim Congress said the term "Islamic terrorism" has helped extremists, who use it to bolster their claim that the West is at war against the Muslim religion rather than terrorists. "Calling them Islamist extremists is a more accurate depiction because it tells you they are politically involved, because you can be an Islamic extremist in your views and be totally benign politically," he said. Although only a few letters distinguish the old terminology from the new, terrorism expert Professor Martin Rudner said there is "a slight but important difference in nuance, in my opinion, between the two terms. "The term Islamic infers that whatever is being referred to is inherent to Islam, as in 'the Islamic faith.' Islamist is a more recent term, which is meant to imply a somewhat extreme, not mainstream, variance of the Muslim faith," said the director of the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies. "I don't see this as being merely politically correct," Prof. Rudner said. "The different terms distinguish between something mainstream and another which may use Islamic symbols and meanings for an extremist cause." <http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=5af3bad0-2fba-\ 4025-a01e-37aff52288f2&k=25202 <http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=5af3bad0-2fba-\ 4025-a01e-37aff52288f2&k=25202> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
