Jargon Watch: “Long War” Goes the Way of GWOT

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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?

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BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

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