Fixation on IS semantics casts doubt on Gabbard

Hawaii U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s repeated bashing of President Barack Obama for referring to the Islamic State as terrorist rather than radically Islamic is becoming silly.

Gabbard contends that by failing to bring the Islamic religious ideology front and center, the president shows he doesn’t understand the enemy we’re fighting in Iraq and Syria.

It’s earned her many spots on Fox and other talk TV venues, which are delighted to have a young Democrat voice the Obama attacks otherwise left to the usual Republican suspects.

But there’s little substance in Gabbard’s semantics game.

Obama doesn’t need to shout from the rooftop that the Islamic State is ideologically rooted in its interpretation of Islam; it says so in the name.

The president has sound policy reasons for restrained rhetoric, such as not doing IS the favor of giving it the Islamic credibility it craves.

It infuriates the IS that other Muslims don’t call it the Islamic State; they use Daesh, an Arabic acronym that can also be translated to mean a bully who imposes his views on others.

By emphasizing terrorism over Islam, the U.S. makes it a fight against a specific bad actor rather than declaring a broad and unwinnable war on a religion.

Semantic discipline is also necessary to gain the active involvement we need from moderate Muslims to avoid U.S. boots on the ground and limit our role to supplying arms and air support.

Gabbard has raised other fair questions about the president’s military strategy and his understanding of the tricky rivalries in the Middle East, but her fixation on simplistic wordplay makes her own understanding suspect.

Whatever the merits, the word game is gaining Gabbard the national attention she seems to savor — some more flattering than others.

Fox News did a fawning, one-sided profile claiming the "knives are out" for Gabbard, notwithstanding that Obama has done nothing to retaliate. (Read the article at http://fxn.ws/1LUaoyy.)

A less complimentary profile on the news site Alternet described Gabbard as Islamophobic and attributed it to her close ties to India’s Hindu nationalist party led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who has been criticized for harsh treatment of India’s Muslim minority. (Read the article at http://bit.ly/1w2aGfc.)

Gabbard’s family is prominent in a local Krishna offshoot group and she proudly promotes herself as the first Hindu member of Congress. Her recent criticism of Obama on Islamic ideology started after a trip to India.

According to Alternet, Gabbard fought fiercely in Congress in 2013 against a bipartisan resolution calling on India to improve its human rights situation and has received significant campaign donations from Hindu-Americans who support the nationalist party.

Gabbard’s backers cry "haters" whenever her religious affiliation is brought up, but it’s fair inquiry if she’s making a name for herself by slamming the religion of others.

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Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com or blog.volcanicash.net.