Ok, I looked some more, the non-acronymic form of gsave seems to have picked up a little more notice, but not particularly of the flattering kind. news.google.com shows 27 hits, the related list on the second one gives a nice summary of how the little PR exercise is being taken:
War On Terror' Remake?
CBS News - 2 hours ago
I don't know if you noticed, but the "War On Terror" is over. That ubiquitous catchall phrase that the administration so liberally ...
US to phase out ‘war on terror’
Calcutta Telegraph, India - 2 hours ago
Washington, July 27: The “war on terror”, the resonant catchphrase of the Bush administration for the past four years, is to be discreetly phased out in ...
US admits defeat in war on semantics
Sydney Morning Herald (subscription), Australia - 10 hours ago
Washington: The "war on terror", the resonant catchphrase of the Bush Administration for the past four years, is to be discreetly phased out in favour of more ...
New name for 'war on terror'
BBC News, UK - Jul 26, 2005
By Matthew Davis. The Bush administration is abandoning the phrase "war on terror" to better express the fight against al-Qaeda and ...
Don't mention war on terror
Telegraph.co.uk, United Kingdom - Jul 26, 2005
By Alec Russell in Washington. The "war on terror", the resonant catchphrase of the Bush administration for the past four years, is ...
Terror war officially recast as 'struggle'
International Herald Tribune, France - Jul 26, 2005
WASHINGTON The Bush administration is retooling its slogan for the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, pushing the idea that the long-term ...
US Military Chief Urges Better Understanding of War on Terror
Voice of America - Jul 25, 2005
By Al Pessin. The top US military officer, who will soon retire, said Monday that the American people do not sufficiently understand ...
Changing Words, Changing Policies
TPMCafe, NY - 50 minutes ago
The Bush administration is behaving as if its shifting foreign policy is really nothing special, when it has quietly made sharp changes in its positions and ...
US Replaces 'War On Terror' Phraseology As Too Gloomy
Halifax Live, Canada - 5 hours ago
By Staff. If you listen closely to high ranking US government officials in recent speeches and news conferences you might notice ...
Bush Administration Falls Ill With PC Fever
The Moderate Voice - 19 hours ago
by Joe Gandelman. Is someone in the BBC now advising the Bush administration? The Bush administration is retooling its slogan for ...
White House drops 'war on terror' slogan
Washington Times, DC - Jul 26, 2005
The Bush administration has begun downplaying the "war on terror" in favor of "a global struggle against violent extremism," the New York Times reports. Gen. ...
Joint Chiefs Chairman Says Extremism at Core of Terror Threat
US Dept of State (press release), DC - Jul 25, 2005
Washington – The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff says that the July 23 bombings in the Egyptian resort Sharm al-Sheikh demonstrate – just as do the ...
US Must Maintain Will in Terror War, Myers Says
US Department of Defense (press release) - Jul 25, 2005
By Donna Miles. WASHINGTON, July 25, 2005 – The war against violent extremism is a battle of wills, and if the American people ...
US Must Maintain Will in Terror War, Myers Says
Blackanthem.com, MI - 9 hours ago
The war against violent extremism is a battle of wills, and if the American people give up, they'll end up living in a world ruled by violence and fear, the ...
New Name for 'War On Terror'
Journal of Turkish Weekly, Turkey - 14 hours ago
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 ...
The Military Family Network
eMilitary.org - Jul 26, 2005
WASHINGTON, July 25, 2005 – The war against violent extremism is a battle of wills, and if the American people give up, they'll end up living in a world ...
New Bush-speak
Waldo Village Soup, ME - Jul 26, 2005
I love the notion that Bush has gone thru "an evolution in thinking," To bad it's not true. Bush has never shown any ability to think what so ever. ...
( news.google.com )
Oops. Looks like back to the drawing board for the neologisticians. Here's the Harry Smith article, just for posterity, cbsnews.com
War On Terror' Remake?
NEW YORK, July 27, 2005
This column was written by CBS News Early Show Co-Anchor Harry Smith.I don't know if you noticed, but the "War On Terror" is over. That ubiquitous catchall phrase that the administration so liberally used to help draw support for the War In Iraq has been deemed unfit for public consumption. From now on, it is "The Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism."
You think I'm making this up?
Well Donald Rumsfeld seems to have dropped the War On Terror in favor of the clunkier "Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism," and Monday at the National Press Club, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard Myers said he objected to the old phrase. Said Myers, "Because if you call it a war, then you think of people in uniform being the solution."
Well the War In Iraq is a war. But, does this mean these guys are admitting that when they started it, it really wasn't a war on terror because there weren't any terrorists in the first place?
Google this when you get home tonight. It sounds to me like the administration is trying, in the words of a marketer, to "reposition a brand." Americans were more than happy to support the war in Iraq because they believed, and old polls bare this out, that it was part of the greater war on terrorism.
Support for that war has plummeted. So do we change its name and assume that no one will notice or that it doesn't matter? How about we go back and call the war in Iraq "The Perilously Dangerous Mission To Unseat Saddam Hussein And Install Democracy In A Country Full Of People Who Really Hate And Distrust Each Other"?
That might have been a tougher sell. |
