Thursday, February 18, 2010
Administration recasts Iraq war with new name
The Obama adminstration has decided to give the war in Iraq a new name -- "Operation New Dawn" -- to reflect the reduced role U.S. troops will play in securing the country this year as troop levels fall, according to a memo from Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates.
Since U.S. forces charged across the Kuwaiti border toward Baghdad in 2003, the war has been known as Operation Iraqi Freedom. The new name is scheduled to take effect in September, when U.S. troop levels are supposed to drop to about 50,000. The name change was first reported by ABC News, which posted the memo on its Web site.
In the Feb. 17 memo, Gates wrote that the name change seeks to "recognize our evolving relationship with the Government of Iraq."
Military Families United, a Washington-based advocacy group that has opposed Obama administration policies such as moving prisoners from the detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to the U.S., rapped the name change as empty "public relations tactics."
"You cannot end a war simply by changing its name," said Brian Wise, the group's executive director, in an e-mailed statement to the Associated Press. "Despite the administration's efforts to spin realities on the ground, their efforts do not change the situation at hand in Iraq."
Gates to Petraeus: IRAQI FREEDOM to become NEW DAWN
National Security high tech intel expert Christopher Tucker, who probably will run the CIA one day, sent me this bit of interesting news.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has agreed to General David Petraeus' request to change "Operation IRAQI FREEDOM" to "Operation NEW DAWN."
The change goes into affect on September 1, 2010.
It sounds a little like "mission accomplished" -- but this time, maybe a good chunk of soldiers really will be pulled back home.
Here is the text of the letter:
SECRETARY OF DEFENSE 1000 DEFENSE PENTAGON WASHINGTON, DC 20301-1000
MEMORANDUM FOR THE COMMANDER, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND
SUBJECT: Request to Change the Name of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM to Operation NEW DAWN
The requested operation name change is approved to take effect 1 September 2010, coinciding with the change of mission for U.S. forces in Iraq. Aligning the name change with the change of mission sends a strong signal that Operation IRAQI FREEDOM has ended and our forces are operating under a new mission. It also presents opportunities to synchronize strategic communication initiatives, reinformce our commitment to honor the Security Agreement, and recognize our evolving relationship with the Goverment of Iraq.
Robert M. Gates
cc: Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
-- Steve Clemons
http://www.thewashingtonnote.com/archives/2010/02/gates_to_petrae/
