Let's Start Calling it Like it Is....

Great column by Mark Steyn on the reluctance of the mainstream media to name the true enemies we are fighting in the war on terror.

From Thursday's New York Times: ''Nalchik, Russia -- Insurgents launched a series of raids today in this southern Russian city, striking the area's main airport and several police and security buildings in large-scale, daytime attacks that left at least 85 people dead.''

"Insurgents," eh?

From Agence France Presse:
"Nalchik, Russia: More than 60 people were killed as scores of militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings . . ."

"Militants," you say?

From the Scotsman:
"Rebel forces battled Russian troops for control of a provincial capital in the Caucasus yesterday . . ."
"Rebel forces,'' huh?

(My comment: Good grief! Weren't the GOOD guys in 'Star Wars' the Rebel Forces?)

From Toronto's Globe & Mail:
"Nalchik, Russia -- Scores of rebels launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings . . ."

"Rebels," by the score. But why were they rebelling? What were they insurging over? You had to pick up the Globe & Mail's rival, the Toronto Star, to read exactly the same Associated Press dispatch but with one subtle difference:

''Nalchik, Russia -- Scores of Islamic militants launched simultaneous attacks on police and government buildings . . ."

Ah, "Islamic militants." So that's what the rebels were insurging over. In the geopolitical Hogwart's, Islamic "militants" are the new Voldemort, the enemy whose name it's best never to utter.

I really don't understand the reluctance of the media to describe who these people are and why they are hell-bent on our destruction. If it were a group of Christians out blowing things up, you can be sure that their religious affiliation would be in every headline. If I had a nickel for every time a liberal mentions the Crusades in conversations about the brutality done in the name of religion, I could retire.

Continue to watch this in the media---over time, I predict that the euphemisms will continue until it appears that the terrorists are merely innocents victims of Western interference, fighting for their rights and freedoms against the Great Satan.