[Mb-civic] Bush now calls it "a struggle"

[Jef Bek]

The Bush administration is attempting to put a new spin on their Iraq
debacle. They are now replacing the clunky old phrase "WAR" with the pensive
sounding "struggle". So Georgie is now telling you "this is my struggle". I
guess no one told him what "My Struggle" means in German...You guessed it,
Mein Kampf!

 2005/07/27 00:26:04 GMT

 New name for 'war on terror'

 By Matthew Davis 
 BBC News, Washington

 

 The Bush administration is abandoning the phrase "war on terror" to better
express the fight against al-Qaeda and other groups as an ideological
struggle as much as a military mission.

 While the slogan - first used by President George W Bush in the wake of the
9/11 attacks - may still be heard from time to time, the White House says it
will increasingly be couched in other language.

 In recent days, senior administration figures have been speaking publicly
of "a global struggle against the enemies of freedom", and of the need to
use all "tools of statecraft" to defeat them.

 The shift in terms comes at a time when the US public is increasingly
pessimistic about the war in Iraq - and sceptical about its links to the
fight against terrorism.

 One White House official told the BBC the move did not mark a change of
approach, but was intended to give a broader perspective to the "evolving
nature" of the struggle.

 'Economic influence'

 Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld spoke in the new language on Friday,
praising a retiring Navy officer who had served as "our country wages the
global struggle against the enemies of freedom, the enemies of
civilization".

 The long-term problem is as much diplomatic, as much economic, in fact more
diplomatic, more economic, more political than it is military
  General Richard Myers

 The next day, national security advisor Steven Hadley co-wrote a piece for
the New York Times in which he set out the current thinking.

 "Military action is only one piece of the war on terrorism," Mr Hadley
wrote.

 "At the same time, however, we must bring all of the tools of statecraft,
economic influence and private enterprise to bear in this war.

 "Freedom-loving people around the world must reach out through every means
- communications, trade, education - to support the courageous Muslims who
are speaking the truth about their proud religion and history, and seizing
it back from those who would hijack it for evil ends."

 The country's top military officer spoke in a similar vein on Monday.

 General Richard Myers told a meeting at the National Press Club: "The
long-term problem is as much diplomatic, as much economic, in fact more
diplomatic, more economic, more political than it is military.

 "And that's where the focus has to be in the future."

 Tough talking 

 Earlier this month, former British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook criticised
the language employed by the US president, saying that instead of isolating
terrorists, he had upset Muslims around the world.

 Mr Cook - an opponent of the war in Iraq - told the BBC: "I think the
problem with George Bush's approach is that he does keep talking about it as
a war on terror as if there is a military solution and there isn't."

 But while the president has continued to talk of "taking the fight to the
enemy", his recent speeches have also emphasized freedom, democracy and the
worldwide clash of ideas.

 A White House official said: "We are constantly reviewing how we can best
protect our citizens from terrorism and we need to adjust our approach to
achieve this.

 "The 'war' is more than a military response, it is a battle of ideas and a
struggle against extremism, and all aspects of the US Government and its
allies around the world need to be called upon in fighting it.

 "In Afghanistan, the extremist Taleban regime no longer has a base of
operations, a clearly identified location that requires a war - there is now
a democratically-elected government there.

 "It's a different situation again in London where you've got, say, a second
generation British Muslim influenced by the preachings of a radical cleric."

 Slow evolution 

 Meanwhile, Lieutenant General James T Conway, a senior US military
commander, told a Pentagon briefing there had been "philosophical
discussions" with US allies over the use of the phrase.

 "We've been told, actually, that "global war on terrorism" translates
pretty well into the various languages," he added.

 "So I think that continues to make it a part of the discussion."

 A Pentagon spokesman said the title of a new manual for combatant
commanders suggested a slow evolution in the recasting of the mission away
from its military aspect.

 The National Military Strategic Plan for the War on Terrorism, issued in
March, directs commanders to focus on eight areas essential to terrorists.

 These include areas like funding and ideological support, safe havens,
communications and movement.

 The phrase "war on terrorism" was first widely used by the Western press to
refer to the efforts by Britain to end a spate of attacks in the British
mandate of Palestine in the late 1940s.

 Later, it was frequently employed by US President Ronald Reagan in the
1980s.

 But since the 9/11 attacks it has become a slogan for the protracted,
US-led struggle to terrorists and the states that aid them, usually
expressed as "the global war on terror".

 Story from BBC NEWS:
 http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4719169.stm

 Published: 2005/07/27 00:26:04 GMT

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