Mounties instructed to avoid 'inflammatory' Islamist terms

OTTAWA - There is new trouble for the RCMP over a manual that tries to wash out terms like "Islamist" and "jihad" from officers' mouths when they talk about terrorism.

"Distorted and inflammatory linkages between Islam and terrorism can serve to convince Muslims -- both in the West and in the larger Islamic world -- that the West is, in fact, their enemy," the manual says.

That doesn't impress anti-terror expert David Harris, of Insignis Strategic Research.

"This is, if I may be blunt, an Islamist's wet dream," Harris said. "It misstates fundamentally the established history, and undermines warnings of many moderate Muslims about jihad and its possibilities."

The manual, called Words Make Worlds, dates back to 2009 and also tells Mounties not to fear organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood, despite its terrorist links. (...)