When I deployed to the Middle East in 2014, Daesh was just starting to really get America‘s full attention. I was fascinated with getting the opportunity to meet them in battle, and wanted to know everything I could about them. But first, I wanted to know what to call them. ISIS, IS, ISIL? So I asked my intel officer. At first he started giving me the whole brief on these guys I had heard a hundred times. I stopped him short. “Which of the three names, IS, ISIS, ISIL, do these guys DISLIKE the most?” He thought about it for a second, and for reasons I can’t recall, but likely having something to do with HUMINT and SIGINT and OPSEC and- well, you’ve sat through an intel brief- told me it would probably be “ISIS.”

Once I deployed, the term “Daesh” started floating around. Doing a little research, I found it’s an attempt to form a word out of their least-favorite phrase, that morphed into their least-favorite acronym. It also sounds a lot like an Arabic word for “trampled.” Apparently they REALLY hated that name. They had repeatedly told the world that they were ISIL! After all, our own government still caters to their demands. I mean, it took me about a half of a burning-a-pilot-alive video to decide that I was going to personally crush these maggots wherever I could, starting with calling them their least favorite name. Apparently, some in our government disagree, and have decided to show the utmost respect when choosing to refer to Daesh as ISIL. Maybe Obama feels bad for saying:

“The analogy we use around here sometimes, and I think is accurate, is if a jayvee team puts on Lakers uniforms that doesn’t make them Kobe Bryant.”

That could’ve been a nice dig at Daesh if they hadn’t grown under his administration to become one of the most feared and dangerous terror groups in the world, even bringing terror attacks to America. But alas, we didn’t take them seriously, and now have chosen to refer to them by their favorite acronym. Daesh and those that aspire join them are less than human. They are committing horrific atrocities daily. Can we just agree to join FRANCE in hardening up (did I just say that?) and calling these pigs by a name they don’t like?

To read more on the IS-ISIS-Daesh name debate, check out this in-depth BBC article.

And please, feel free to join me in bothering Daesh as much as possible. Daesh Daesh Daesh. Daesh.

 

Image taken without permission from: Daesh