The Week

• New administration line: We are not not at war with the Islamic State.

• President Obama’s speech on his new Iraq war ventured onto the shaky ground of theology. “ISIL is not Islamic,” he declared. “No religion condones the killing of innocents. And the vast majority of ISIL’s victims have been Muslim.” Warfare often involves war over language: We should try to wrong-foot our enemies rhetorically and intellectually wherever possible. But such efforts have to be more cunning than Obama was. The Iraqi soldiers and pro-government tribesmen ISIL/ISIS kills are, by its lights, not innocents but bad Muslims; Christians and Yazidis are even farther beyond the pale. Better if the president had used some such formulation as “They claim to act in the name of Islam, something peace-loving Muslims say is a perversion of their faith.” Or better perhaps to avoid the topic altogether, and concentrate on sending as many of the ISIL/ISIS as possible before the Judge who makes no mistakes.