Fighting Words

In case you haven’t heard, Bush and his pals have a new strategy for fighting terrorism: Change the name of the game. It seems the administration has grown tired of its tough-luck Global War on Terrorism and is ready to try its hand at the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism.

Words matter. And using the right words matters a lot. But changing the name of the campaign on terrorism has nothing to do with clarifying policy goals. It is a petty attempt to recast mistakes of the last four years. Let’s not forget what happened, or what was said.

Over at Slate, Fred Kaplan cuts through the fat surrounding the name change.

--Matthew McCoy