By Scott Stewart
Much of the media continues to utilisation outdated names for militant groups, fifty-fifty though the designations convey long since changed. Describing fierce extremist groups every bit militants, rather than terrorists, does non whitewash their actions but serves to underline the multi-pronged threat they pose.
When militant groups alter their names, it oft signifies a alter inwards tactics as well as targets — as well as possibly fifty-fifty their grade of brutality.
On July 14, reports from Nigeria's Yobe province emerged regarding an prepare on on a military machine base. Media outlets exactly about the world were quick to position the principal culprit, noting how "Boko Haram" — the yell that has travel past times away synonymous alongside militancy inwards the province — had raided a base. Truth hold out told, piece at that spot was for sure an attack, it wasn't conducted past times Boko Haram, but the al-Barnawi faction of Wilayat al Sudan al Gharbi, or Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).
The prepare on touched off a conversation betwixt some colleagues as well as myself final calendar week that centered on 1 curious question: Why make many media outlets travel past times away along to refer to the grouping every bit Boko Haram, fifty-fifty though it declared allegiance to the Islamic State as well as formally changed its yell inwards March 2015?
The Big Picture
The struggle against jihadist groups continues exactly about the world. While governments aim to defeat such extremist organizations on the battlefield as well as delegitimize their ideology, the labor of institutions similar Stratfor is to supply impartial analysis on the threats as well as capabilities of such groups. In then doing, it is essential to approach these organizations every bit accurately every bit possible — including alongside the names used for such militants.
Choosing a Name
The insistence on referring to the grouping every bit Boko Haram is puzzling, since media outlets convey been amend nigh updating their naming policies for other militant groups inwards the region. For example, nobody refers to al Qaeda inwards the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) every bit the Salafist Group for Preaching as well as Combat – the group's yell earlier it formally aligned alongside al Qaeda – or continues to telephone telephone Abu Walid al-Sahraoui's Islamic State inwards the Greater Sahara past times 1 of its old names, al-Mourabitoun or the Movement for Unity as well as Jihad inwards West Africa (MUJAO).
And inwards the instance of Boko Haram, media outlets tin hardly propose they are exactly using a previous self-designation for the group, every bit the yell — the catchy Hausa as well as Standard Arabic phrase for "Western pedagogy is sinful" — was never used past times the arrangement itself. Instead, founder Mohammed Yusuf designated the grouping Jama'atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda'awati wal-Jihad, Standard Arabic for "Group Committed to Propagating the Prophet's Teachings as well as Jihad." "Boko Haram" mightiness convey been 1 of the group's fundamental assertions, but it was non what it called itself.
Using an older yell to ignore an organization's alter inwards condition is a agency of waging data warfare against the grouping past times attempting to counter their narrative.
Perhaps some of the name's longevity results from the Nigerian government's consistent denials that its jihadist occupation stems from whatsoever unusual influence — a policy that has led it to purposely retain the yell inwards an elbow grease to downplay the threat as well as pigment it every bit a domestic issue. Another constituent inwards the selection of nomenclature lies alongside those that make mode guides for the media, every bit institutions similar AP convey yet to update their usage. Third, many media outlets seeking to maximize search engine optimization mightiness opt for the yell Boko Haram, rather than the to a greater extent than obscure ISWAP — to say zilch of Wilayat al Sudan al Gharbi.
Words Matter
But every bit I pondered this wrong usage of Boko Haram, I realized in 1 trial to a greater extent than the importance of using the right terminology when working to analyze as well as sympathise something every bit complex every bit a militant grouping — as well as yes, I did exactly say "militant group" instead of "terrorist group." In the past, Stratfor has attracted criticism for referring to groups such every bit the Islamic State as well as al Qaeda every bit militant groups, rather than terrorist groups. Many believe that the selection is business office of some political correctness receive to avoid yell of the "T" give-and-take or that nosotros are apologists for the groups' brutality.
Nothing could hold out farther from the truth. Instead, from our perspective, anyone who considers al Qaeda or the Islamic State every bit a mere "terrorist group" vastly underestimates the threat they lay because they are so much to a greater extent than than uncomplicated terrorists. Terrorism is undoubtedly 1 of the tactics they utilisation to pursue their objectives but these groups — every bit evidenced past times ISWAP's prepare on inwards Yobe on July fourteen — are likewise capable of conducting guerrilla warfare. And if provided alongside the chance to grow their strength, such organizations tin likewise comport hybrid warfare as well as fifty-fifty conventional military machine operations. After all, it was highly coordinated, mobile warfare — supplemented past times a petty terrorism on the side — that allowed the Islamic State to capture large swaths of Republic of Iraq as well as Syrian Arab Republic inwards 2014.
And speaking of the Islamic State, nosotros make intentionally telephone telephone them past times the yell they've given themselves. Some convey said that past times doing so, nosotros bow to their desires, thereby granting them some assort of symbolic victory, but I don't purchase that argument. Because ideology drives terrorism, agreement the ideology that animates a item militant grouping is critical to whatsoever elbow grease to assess its condition or forecast its trajectory. As the ideology of a militant grouping evolves over time, the changes are oft reflected inwards novel names — every bit good every bit novel objectives, novel tactics as well as novel targets.
Stratfor's mission is to supply unbiased, impartial analysis to empower our readers to confidently sympathise as well as navigate a complex global environs marked past times continuous change.
When jihadist groups switch allegiance from al Qaeda to the Islamic State, they to a greater extent than oft than non growth the frequency of their sectarian attacks, behead to a greater extent than enemies as well as distribute to a greater extent than — as well as grislier — propaganda. Examples of such development include Wilayat Barqa's beheadings inwards Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya as well as Wilayat Sinai's sectarian attacks against Christians as well as Sufis inwards Egypt. Wilayat Sinai's tactics, every bit good every bit the targets it selects, differ markedly from those of its predecessor, Ansar Beit al-Maqdis. At the other cease of Eurasia, Filipino jihadists convey likewise demonstrated a notable alter inwards demeanour afterward adopting the Islamic State yell as well as ideology.
But going dorsum to our Nigeria example, the ideologies of the 2 competing al-Barnawi as well as Shekau factions that convey declared allegiance to the Islamic State inwards the province are rattling different: piece the al-Barnawi faction tends to target the government, the Shekau faction tends to focus on softer, civilian targets. Moreover, the doctrines of both groups depart greatly from the ideology held — as well as preached — past times the master copy founder, Yusuf. While agreement the history of Boko Haram as well as its successors is important, Yusuf's statements as well as speeches exactly cannot supply an accurate agreement of the varying ISWAP factions' ideologies today.
The Use of ISIS
In much the same way Abuja intentionally refers to ISWAP every bit Boko Haram for a specific purpose, Washington continues to refer to the Islamic State every bit the Islamic State inwards Republic of Iraq as well as al-Sham (ISIS), the yell the grouping adopted earlier it hubristically declared the re-establishment of the caliphate on world as well as anointed the group's leader, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, every bit Caliph Ibrahim, the ruler of all the world's Muslims. But past times insistently referring to the grouping every bit ISIS, the U.S. regime seeks to emphasize inwards every official declaration that it does non recognize the arrangement every bit the caliphate. Similarly, the Barack Obama management referred to the grouping every bit the Islamic State of Republic of Iraq as well as the Levant (ISIL), a variant of ISIS (using the English linguistic communication term Levant instead of the Standard Arabic term al-Sham). In truth, the United States of America of America has whatsoever number of other old names to select from, including Jamaat al-Tawhid as well as Jihad, al Qaeda inwards the Earth of the Two Rivers (commonly referred to every bit al Qaeda inwards Iraq), the Mujahideen Shura Council as well as the Islamic State inwards Iraq.
Using an older yell to ignore an organization's alter inwards condition is a agency of waging data warfare against the grouping past times attempting to counter their narrative, as well as the U.S. as well as Nigerian governments for sure convey argue to wage data warfare against such savage militant groups. Stratfor's mission, however, is to supply unbiased, impartial analysis to empower our readers to confidently sympathise as well as navigate a complex global environs marked past times continuous change. It is non our house to purposefully depict a militant grouping past times an wrong yell inwards an elbow grease to somehow delegitimize them or counter their narrative. Instead, our labor is to analyze such groups as well as select our words carefully to explicate them to our readers.
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