[LINK] "'Daesh' adopted as new name for ISIS by U.S., France"

[rfmcdonald]

CBC's Kathleen Harris notes the growing popularity of the word "Daesh" to represent ISIS. I agree with the arguments from language, actually.

Sources tell CBC News Network's Power and Politics host Evan Solomon that the U.S. is moving away from calling the militant group ISIL, in favour of the more pejorative Arabic acronym Daesh.

Speaking in Brussels yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry adopted the new name.

“In less than three months the international community has come together to form a coalition that is already taking important steps to degrade and defeat ISIL, or Daesh,” he said. “Daesh is still perpetrating terrible crimes.”

[. . .]

France was first to embrace the Daesh name in September, and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius asked the media and others to do the same.

"This is a terrorist group and not a state. I do not recommend using the term Islamic State because it blurs the lines between Islam, Muslims and Islamists," he said in a statement at the time. "The Arabs call it Daesh and I will be calling them the 'Daesh cutthroats.'"

Daesh also sounds similar to the Arabic words daes — which means someone who crushes something underfoot - and also dahes — which is someone who sows discord.