Temporarily renaming the war on terror.(INSIDER REPORT)

"The meaning of words had no longer the same relation to things, but was changed by them as they thought proper. Reckless daring was held to be loyal courage; prudent delay was the excuse of a coward; moderation was the disguise of unmanly weakness; to know everything was to do nothing. Frantic energy was the true quality of a man. A conspirator who wanted to be safe was a recreant in disguise. The lover of violence was always trusted, and his opponent suspected." These are the words used over 2,000 years ago by the famed Athenian historian Thucydides to describe the attempt by Peloponnesian rulers to sell the treachery of war to their citizens. The Bush administration took a page out of the Peloponnesian War playbook and rebranded the unpopular "war on terror" as the ostensibly more palatable "global struggle against extremism"--and then they changed the name back. The July 25 New York Times reported that the administration's change of the marquis over the Middle Eastern theater of war was the result of several strategy meetings between President Bush and his national security advisers. The goal of the change was to promote "the idea that the long-term struggle is as much an ideological battle as a military mission." In a presentation at the National Press Club, General Richard Meyers, chairman of the Joint ...