Paul Shinkman, US News - When asked most recently whether the military operations in Iraq and Syria had a code name, the Pentagon spokesman continued what has become a string of blunt answers.
“No. It has not,” Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said. He added, “I know of no plans at this time to name it.”
And so, what could be one of the defining battles of the early 21st century remains anonymous.
“I just don’t know the explanation,” says Eric Edelman, who served as the under secretary of Defense for Policy until 2009, following tours as the U.S. ambassador to Turkey and Finland.
Edelman’s predecessor during the Clinton administration, Walter Slocombe, also cannot remember a military operation that passed unnamed. He went on to serve as a senior adviser to the coalition in Iraq in 2003. They are among a string of former top Defense officials and military science scholars who spoke with U.S. News and could not think of another military operation on this scale in U.S. military history that never got christened somehow.
The practice of offering up snappy names the general public could recognize began during the Korean War, and paved the way for operations such as “Just Cause” in Panama or “Urgent Fury” in Grenada -- among the most extreme examples of titles clearly designed to shape public opinion.
Highly-publicized, catchy titles have become a way for military commanders and Defense officials to petition Congress for money or authority.
As for Operation No Name, perhaps these powers already have enough authority and funding. Either way, there’s plenty of speculation.
1 comment:
The war that dare not speak its name.
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