by Paul Szoldra

The Pentagon is kicking former President Barack Obama’s preferred
nomenclature for the so-called Islamic State to the curb. While the Obama administration often used ISIL, or the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant, to describe the terror group, a new
memo from the Pentagon’s executive secretary says the
department needs to start using ISIS. “The Department of Defense will use the term Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria, or ISIS, when referring to this threat,” wrote
Executive Secretary Michael Bruhn, in a memo dated Feb. 13. The
change was first reported by US News & World Report.

The document mentions a Trump administration memo from Jan.
28, “Presidential Memorandum Plan to Defeat the Islamic State of
Iraq and Syria,” and guidance from Defense Secretary Jim Mattis
as the reason behind the change. The January memo frequently
refers to the group as ISIS, in keeping with what President Trump
called the group while on the campaign trail. Officials can also refer to the militant
group as “Daesh” — an Arabic acronym that is seen as
derogatory by its members. “We view ISIS, ISIL and Da’esh as interchangeable terms for the
same thing,” Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told US
News. “ISIS is the term most known and understood by the
American public, and it is what our leadership uses. This
simply aligns our terminology.”