The Islamic State, the terrorist group that has rampaged across Iraq and Syria, is often referred to by the press and U.S. lawmakers as “ISIS,” meaning the “Islamic State of Iraq and Syria.”
However, the Obama administration has been curiously insistent on referring to the deadly terror cell as “ISIL,” meaning the “Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant,” prompting several to question the White House’s motives.
And although there have been some colorful theories as to why the White House does this, NBC News’ Chuck Todd’s take may explain the administration’s reasoning.
“Obviously, we refer to it at NBC News as ISIS,” Todd said Sunday. “The Obama administration, the president says the word ISIL. The last ‘S’ stands for Syria. The last ‘L’ they don’t want to have stand for Syria.”
He continued, explaining that the “Levant” in “ISIL” refers to an area in the Middle East that also includes Jordan and Lebanon. However, given that the Obama administration appears to be uninterested in engaging the terrorist group in Syria, this appears to be the reason why the White House has opted to stick with “Levant.” Leave Syria out of it.
It’s a political calculation.
Of course, at this point, it’s not really that big of an issue as the terrorist group has since rebranded itself as the simpler “Islamic State,” signaling that it plans to grow and spread over an area larger than Iraq, Syria and the Levant.
