I have a humble suggestion for a replacement term for the overused and rather nonsensical phrase "War on Terror" (WOT) and the even more hackneyed "Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism" (GSAVE).
What we want is a term that makes it clear that we are not waging a war on Islam, but in fact are seeking to achieve a goal well within Islamic teaching on justice and peace. We also want to communicate that the tactic of terror will not work, that we are not a nation of people hiding under our beds or frantically shopping for duct-tape.
To that end, I have devised the following alternative: War On Muharib ; Brave Against Terror (WOMBAT).
Am I serious? Well, yes actually.
First of all, the imagery is great, you don't want to mess with a wombat. Second, the war is explicitly on the muharib, not Islam or muslims but rather a specific group that is condemned in the Qur'an. This lets us communicate exactly what our intentions are to the muslim world. Third, the right response to terror is not to run screaming or indulge in feel-good symbolism like taking shoes off or demanding loyalty tests of your fellow citizens; that stuff is truly letting the terrorists win. Instead you simply want to remain brave in the face of terror. (Brave is also a verb, as in to brave against something, so it's actually pretty concise yet meaningful). I think if all muslims began using WOMBAT as our acronym of choice immediately it would help a great deal.
Ok I admit this is a bit silly, but less so than WOT/GSAVE. In contrast, WOMBAT actually makes sense.
Think about it; it grows on you.
(Incidentally I do have concrete suggestions for how the muslim community can take meaningful action to combat religious extremism. In a nutshell, these are 1. denounce collateral damage and aerial bombardment from a moral perspective, 2. support the concept of democracy promotion as a central plank of foreign policy, and 3. stop obsessing about Israel. I go into far more detail and justfiy these (admittedly contentious) positions at City of Brass.