It took several years for the Bush administration to finally come out with a cogent strategy for the War on Terror. After years of trying to frighten the masses into submission, they have recognized that a softer stance might be needed. Mind you this has nothing to do with the war itself, but rather with the accompanying propaganda. You see the Bush Administration has realized that the best way to defeat the insurgents, stem the tide of civil war, and stop the bloodletting, is to, change the name of the war.
That is right folks. The term, "War on Terror" is being phased out and replaced with the "Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism." I am not kidding. Faced with a war that has spiraled out of control, polls crashing to dangerous levels and impeachment drums beating at home, George W. Bush has decided the best strategy is to change the advertising. Let us take a logical look at why.
The War on Terror has simply outlived its usefulness. This phrase was designed to frighten the masses. The term "war" was used to generate patriotic fervor and get the yellow-ribbon crowd to fight the ideological battles for the administration. It was designed to loan legitimacy to an illegitimate endeavor. Since the public has awoken to the lies that were told to launch this war, there is no longer a positive correlation with using that word. Wars after all can be un-winnable, as this one has rapidly become. Instead, the war is replaced with the more friendly word, "struggle." Anyone after all can win a struggle. A struggle is softer. It does not generate to hard visions of death that "war" does. A struggle is like an arm wrestling contest. A war is about losing an arm. A struggle is about just trying to get a leg up. A war is about losing a leg. No one dies in a struggle. A war is all about losing your life. The new semantics of the administration will allow the whores of war to continue to push the death, without all the negative connotations. After all, it is just a struggle.
That term is so much more benign. There is still violence, should anyone question the severity of the situation, but just enough wiggle room to make it seem innocuous when necessary. The word global has to be there so that people may forget that we are actually at war with Iraq. Global implies that it is a struggle against much more than Iraq. It also may be an entre'e into the further global domination plans on Iran and Syria. After all, it is a "global struggle." The Bush administration needs people to desperately forget about the daily bloodshed in Iraq and is trying to reframe the war as a struggle, and reframe Iraq as a "global" war. The word extremism is used simply to imply that we are normal in our execution of this war, I mean struggle. It is the other guys that are "extreme." Never mind that we have blown up weddings, annihilated civilians, and tortured people to death, it is the other guy that is extreme. It is designed to lend more credibility to the war, I mean struggle.
This is just an attempt to put lipstick on a pig. The War on Terror was sold to us for years. Our fear has been bought with the blood of at least 1,800 American soldiers. Those soldiers demand their sacrifice be noble. I doubt they care what this WAR is called. But Bush cares deeply because he is losing control of his carefully crafted empire. His top aide has apparently committed treason, as has the Chief of Staff of the Vice President. Those treasonous acts apparently may be connected to John Bolton and the lies that were told to Judith Miller, who is still willing to sit in jail instead of coming clean to the American people. He is losing control of his own party and his agenda for the second term is dead on arrival. The GOP is facing the reality of having to steal more elections in 2006, or face prison after impeachment. So, when faced with overwhelming evidence that their policies are not working, are despised by the American people, and federal laws were broken, this administration does what we have come to expect from them. They change the spin.
So, the War on Terror continues, despite the pathetic attempts to reframe the debate. There is no struggle, it is a war. A struggle is not waged with armies and weapons, a war is. This war is occurring in Iraq, not globally. Every day more of our children are killed in this war in Iraq. To water that down to a global struggle, is an insult to their memories and their families. This is what happens when people who have never had to sacrifice in their lives, talk boldly about sacrifice. This is what happens when a man who could not honor his National Guard duty, screams "bring it on!" for the cameras. He begins to think that the best strategy for stemming the tide of war, is to just stop calling it a war.
Apparently, our Ongoing Battle Against Rampant Stupidity, goes on. Don't fall for the PR. Don't be deceived by the new spin and catchy phrases. We are at war. We may be struggling with it, but we are at war. The only thing extreme, is a President who thinks he can turn poll numbers around by rephrasing a war into a struggle. It is a President that thinks the American people are so stupid that they will forget the lies, the treason, and the fact that we are at war because of a failed man, not a failed slogan.