We could call it 'Islamicism'

Mighty Joe Lieberman has a worthy op-ed in the Wall Street Journal this morning, complaining that our recently released National Security Strategy affirms that the United States is at war, but defines the enemy as "violent extremism." I've always mistrusted phrases that can be turned around and still be meaningful. ("This nation, going forward, is at war with extreme violence!" . . . .One must never omit the ruling idiocy of the day: going forward.)

Senator Leiberman prefers the Bush-era term: violent Islamist extremism. "The United States is definitely not at war with Islam," he writes. "But a group of self-identified, extremist Muslims has definitely declared war on us, a war which they explicitly justify by reference to their religion." Well, VIE is a start, but I think it could usefully be defined even more strictly: Islamicism. That's the term I will use, going forward. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford