SANE SYLLABLES

My friend Bill from Bunratty says the term "War on Terror" has always frustrated him. He asks with due diligence—are we at war with the Tamil Tigers, the IRA, the Baader-Meinhof Gang, the Red Brigades, the Symbionese Liberation Army, the Weathermen, Earth First, et cetera? He answers his own question:

No—none of the above—we are at war with Muslim terrorists who are acting in a straightforward manner on the tenets of their ideology. If the term "War with Islam" is too unpalatable for politicians and public figures to utter, perhaps "War with Islam's War on us" would work for them. It's a little wordy, but at least it is not disengenuous like the ridiculous "War on Terror."

Well done, Bill. I couldn't have said it better.