Man, if only the Pentagon put as much effort into winning the war as it does into rebranding its losing efforts.
Remember when GWOT (Global War On Terrorism) became GSAVE (Global War on Violent Extremism). Well, at least that’s what Donald Rumsfeld proposed back in 2005. Evidently, even Bush thought this was stupid.
As for the “long war”—this one was coined by Gen. John P. Abizaid before he retired as head of the Central Command. According to the NYT, “it was intended to signal to the American public that the country was involved in a lengthy struggle that went well beyond the war in Iraq and was political as well as military.”
Except, whoops, folks in the Middle East took it to mean that they’d be occupied for a long time. The Times also notes that U.S. officials seem to be using the phrases “Islamic fascism” and “jihadist” less regularly, as they seem to have offended Muslims worldwide, and even helped recruit folks to fight us. (D’oh!) The Pentagon has also dropped “Salafist Extremist Network,” presumably because only Juan Cole knew what it meant.
“We continue to look for other options to characterize the scope of current operations,” said a Pentagon spokesperson.
SNAFU? Vietnam II? Hundred Years War?
