Tim Kennedy is a top-10 UFC middleweight, co-owns the apparel company Ranger Up, and is a highly decorated special forces member. He is an American hero.
Now he is working with the FBI in the face of some recent credible threats against him by followers of ISIS, the Muslim extremist group intent on establishing a worldwide caliphate.
In an interview with FOX Sports, Kennedy was utterly dismissive of the group.
“Don’t come to Texas and act tough.”Former Green Beret sniper and UFC fighter Tim Kennedy is working with the FBI because of threats made against him by ISIS fighters. http://bit.ly/1SofQBb
Posted by Fox News on Saturday, January 16, 2016
“Calling them ISIS, first of all, I think it’s a discredit, to who they are,” said Kennedy. “I think they’re a bunch of gutless cowards. And we give them credibility by calling them ISIS. Everybody recognizes that as bunch of bad people.
“It’s really it’s just DEASH. They’re a bunch of impotent, feeble, pathetic killers, that were tying to be tough guys online. And they were tough to the wrong dude.
“Go pick on an unarmed journalist in Cologne, Germany or something. Don’t come to Texasand act tough.”
The BBC explains the difference between the terms ISIS, ISIL, and Tim Kennedy’s Daesh.
UN and US officials generally use the acronym “Isil”, the acronym of “Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant”. The group itself has not used that name since June 2014 when it declared the creation a caliphate and shortened its name to “Islamic State” (IS) to reflect its expansionist ambitions. Other media have continued to use “Isil” or “Isis”, which is based on the other widely used translations of the group’s former name – “Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.”
But the term “Daesh” (or Da’ish) has also gained currency, both in the Middle East and further afield, and has been used as a way of challenging the legitimacy of the group due to the negative connotations of the word.
Daesh is essentially an Arabic acronym formed from the initial letters of the group’s previous name in Arabic – “al-Dawla al-Islamiya fil Iraq wa al-Sham”. Although it does not mean anything as a word in Arabic, it sounds unpleasant and the group’s supporters object to its use.
Daesh also sounds similar to an Arabic verb that means to tread underfoot, trample down, or crush something.
So going forward, call the impotent, feeble, pathetic killers by the right name – Daesh.
Among his various efforts, Kennedy runs Sheepdog Response, a service to teach civilians how to kill and not be killed. Kennedy has event in Austin February 19-21. Register for it at www.sheepdogresponse.com
