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Iraq War To Be Rebranded 'Operation New Dawn'
WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama's administration plans to rebrand its military operation in Iraq "Operation New Dawn," beginning September 1, a Pentagon memorandum shows.
President Barack Obama's administration plans to rebrand its military operation in Iraq "Operation New Dawn," beginning September 1, a Pentagon memorandum shows. The memo, signed by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, shows the Pentagon approving a request to switch the name of the US military effort in Iraq from its current designation -- "Operation Iraqi Freedom."
"The request... is approved to take effect 1 September 2010, coinciding with the change of mission for US 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," Gates wrote in the memo, first reported by ABC News.
The document, which is addressed to General David Petraeus, the head of US Central Command, adds the rebranding "presents opportunities to synchronize strategic communication initiatives... and recognize our evolving relationship with the government of Iraq."
The move quickly drew criticism from Military Families United, a national security pressure group.
"You cannot end a war simply by changing its name," Brian Wise, the group's executive director, said in a statement.
"Despite the administration's efforts to spin realities on the ground, their efforts do not change the situation at hand in Iraq.
"Operational military decisions should not be made for purposes of public relations but should be made in the best interests of our nation, the troops on the ground and their families back home."
Obama ran for office in 2008 on a platform that emphasized a pledge to withdraw US troops from Iraq and focus on the war in Afghanistan.
There are now some 97,000 US troops stationed in Iraq, the first time the number has fallen below 100,000 since the US-led invasion of the country in 2003, according to the Pentagon.
That figure is scheduled to fall to around 50,000 by the end of August, with those troops left behind functioning in advisory and training roles solely.
All US troops are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.
155 Comments so far
Show AllIs this what the Left wanted?
Do you think leftists have invaded the White House and done this?.. Really?..
Forget Obama, he's a nothingburger.. Just like (and maybe more so than) Bill Clinton.
What's the problem? He CHANGEd the name of the murderous, illegitimate endeavor! C'mon...give him some time. (Sarcasm alert)
Tell us another joke.
Tell us another joke.
Apparently, a pile of horse-manure by some other name will (hopefully) smell just like a bed of roses ... NOT!
I'd like to synchronize someone's strategic communication initiatives, but good. What crap. You rename an invasion and occupation like a dishwashing liquid or a variety of rose and think it means something.
Just bring our troops home. Put them to work for something positive.
Joe
That post-modern PR-babble jumped out at me too:
the rebranding "presents opportunities to synchronize strategic communication initiatives..."
And the target of these Pentagon / White House "strategic communication initiatives" is... We the People of the United States of America.
great point. we are the target.
Now, wait. Does that mean we are fighting Eastasia now?
We have always been at war with Eastasia.
Since Obama seems to be doing such a good job in emulating his predecessor's foreign policies, it is surprising that he did not decide to go back to the name that Bush and Cheney had originally used but then had to scrape because they apparently did not realize that their intentions, by that name, had become too blatant. Obama can always claim that he, in his paternal wisdom, will be supposedly looking out for the best interests of Iraq by bringing back the name of the original operation-Operation Iraqi Liberation-which its original founders seemed to have been unaware of its acronym-OIL. That was the name of the game back then and it remains so today, no matter how eloquently Obama may attempt to disguise it.
I wryly remember "The War Against Terror" (TWAT!)
WHY DOESN'T HE (HOWEVER TIMIDLY) TRY HONESTY FOR A CHANGE: Ex: OPERATION BLACK DAWN?
"I read the news today......"
Amy Goodman reports that Operation New Dawn is the same code name that was given to the Fallujah invasion.
I guess they figured it was so good they would use it again.
"Dawn" indicates a beginning, not an ending.
I think this means there may be an increase in the numbers of what were formerly called troops.
With a New "Dawn" comes more beams of sunlight and what school child would not want to grow up to be a "Beam" of "Sunlight"?
The people of Iraq will need to find plenty of strong sun-block lotion, but then, they will probably be told to just stay indoors and out of the way.
This is disgusting - who the hell is advising Obama to play these silly word games when our troops' lives are at stake??? It demeans the troops. I want it to be renamed OPERATION TROOPS COME HOME!!! That's the only name Americans will settle for!!!
Get with it, Obama!!!
FrankS
Excellent comment!
Finally, change we can believe in.
I've been rebranded as "unemployed" and by next year, thanks to 40 years of grossly misconducted fiscal policies intended to weaken the working class and enrich the wealthy, the "recession" will be rebranded as "depression."
/two months from being rebranded again to "homeless"
Unemployed can be rebranded as "Leisure enabled".
Homeless can be rebranded as having a "Nomadic Lifestyle"
Hungry can be renamed as being on a "Weight loss program".
Lack of a higher level education can be "Elitist Free".
President Obama can then exercise his oratory stating "Under my Presidency , 30 more million Americans are leisure enabled, 20 million now happily lead a Nomdadic lifestyle free of their chains to place. 50 million Americnas are now on weight loss programs ,a service provided by the Government of the United States without any costs to the taxpayer! 70 more million Americans will be freed from Elitism!"
(Insert thunderous applause here)
Well done, GW!
Good One!!!
Very nice.
Great!
Joe
Excellent comment, GwNorth!
As I recall, this is what the old Soviet Union used to do--problem with some program or department? No problem--just rename it! Should we be laughing or crying?
While he's at it he can cover his back in making cozy with big pharma while at the same time pretend he's backing off the drug war by changing the name to "The War on Pharmaceuticals."
The "WOP"?
and WOPP (war on poor people) again.
Well said!
No health care can be translated into FREE TO DIE.
Everything is Public Relations.
Reality ceases to exist if a high-priced consulting firm hasn't christened it into being.
It must be cool to be so powerful.
Today is a new dawn.
Tears are streaming down my face.
WTMF!? Obummer's on a terminal Gates Company trip wearing only his Bush! The emperor Has NO CLOTHES!! More like DEMiserepublican Operation NudeOn!!!
Given the results of "Operation Iraqi Freedom" I'm sure that with this new name the sun will eventually stop coming up in Iraq...
"Operation Permanent Occupation" just didn't have the same uplifting ring.
the greatest shame is upon the land of a once great nation....the US of A.
I read a funny twist on an old tired cliche'. "Land of the fear and home of the knave". Now THAT sounds right.
Another twist yet..."Land of the fee and home of the slave."
This is getting to the "silly" stage. Renaming things so that you can make believe its something that it is not so you can pretend you are different is just disgusting.
Do something besides play word games for God's sake. This President seems to be unable to produce anything but rhetoric and useless spending.
Forgive me, I forgot he destroyed any hope of real health care reform and apparently the democratic party and the entire progressive agenda. I guess that is production of a sort after all.
The "old" Dawn simply washed dishes. This new and improved NEW DAWN washes blood off your hands while leaving a fresh scent to mask all the bull sh!t.
"Out, OUT, Damn spot!"
Scrawl red lipstick all over a pig's snout, slap a funny blonde wig on it and voila! Marilyn Monroe, except the public still sees a pig with lipstick scrawled all over it's snout and a funny blonde wig sitting atop it.
Holy "It's morning again in America", Bats, man!!!
Operation Same-Old Imperialism.
Operation New Dawn needs an accompanying logo:
A rising Sun with the silhouette of three soldiers walking forward towards an enormous structure in the distance...our Vatican-sized military base which has a sign hanging on it saying 'Welcome Home'.
Don't laugh.
The Pentagon has probably contracted KBR to sub-contract a sub-contractor to hire a former Bush loyalist to design the above logo for a cool $692 million (including cost-overruns).
-"All US troops are scheduled to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011"
...unless if you mean by "troops" the soldiers and mercenaries that will remain in Iraq at the string of US "enduring" bases.
The term "troops" will be rebranded before the end of 2011, meaning nobody ever has to leave.
And they all lived happily ever after.
Renaming it doesn't make it any more legal for us to be there. George W. Bush.Dick Cheney and their entire administration are guilty of TREASON and should be in JAIL.
And what about the Obama admin? It's their wars now--and they appear eager and more than willing to fight.
Obama is Bush's continuation--two peas from the same ugly pod.
Gooooooooooood morning Iraq.
Operation "Same Old Sh*t Different Name."
How refreshing! A paper cutout president and a paper cutout congress simply change the name of murder and it is no longer murder. Absolutely novel.
Good men stand and die for what they believe in: while the parasites and cowards simply change posture and names.
Send the entire sitting parasitic government in Washington to AfPak and let them "defend freedom"; in the light of the
"New Dawn".