extremists are the new terrorists

Guess what word President Obama did not use, not even once, during his hour-long speech to "the Muslim world" in Cairo last week.

Terrorism.

Did you notice? I didn't realize the absence- which should have seemed so conspicuous- until the day after I heard the speech. Sure, he talked about the extremists who commit violence against civilians, "exploiting tensions" in Muslim countries and harming more Muslims than non-Muslims. He talked about how America needs to remain secure against the violence of the extremists, and how it benefits the Muslim world to marginalize them. But he never referred to any acts of "terrorism," and he never labeled these "extremists" terrorists.

What gives? We all knew what he was talking about so maybe it's just a simple exchange of signifiers. But the choice must have been intentional, and I wonder if his language shows a shift in thinking about "terrorism," a word we all understand but find difficult, in the end, to define.