Redundancies

When the government says ‘Islamic militants,’ it sends a message to the public that Islam and militancy are synonymous.

— Sohail Mohammed, a lawyer who represented scores of detainees after the 9/11 attacks.

No, that’s not correct. What law school did you go to?

If Islam and militancy were synonymous, then you could just say “Islamic” or “militants” and “Islamic militants” would be redundant, like “past history” or “unexpected surprise.”

So actually, when the government says “Islamic militants,” it sends a message that Islam and militancy are not synonymous, although you can’t help noticing that most terrorists are in fact Islamic . . .