It's a War, Stupid...I Mean Struggle

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Bloodier than usual today. Seven U.S. Marines were killed in two separate attacks west of Baghdad as American forces try to seal a border infiltration route for foreign fighters. The deaths pushed the U.S. military death toll in Iraq past 1,800.

Then from the time Times:

The Bush administration is retooling its slogan for the fight against Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups, pushing the idea that the long-term struggle is as much an ideological battle as a military mission, senior administration and military officials said Monday.

In recent speeches and news conferences, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the nation's senior military officer have spoken of "a global struggle against violent extremism" rather than "the global war on terror," which had been the catchphrase of choice.

So now it's no longer a war but a struggle? What does that mean? It's time for the Bush administration to stop spinning the debacle that has become of the occupation of Iraq. Either start withdrawing troops or figure out a way to decrease the number of body bags we're sending over there.