Call it What You Want, This is Still a War

I actually wasn’t aware that the “War on Terror” was an official slogan. But it is, or I should say it was, because it has been retired by the White House in favor of the global struggle against extremism.

The Heritage Foundation thinks this is a good thing because it is a better definition of the conflict we face. For one, terrorism was too broad because it’s a tactic, not an ideology and “war” was too specific because this is not merely a military struggle.

But, to me, war isn’t just a military struggle. War is a clash of civilizations with both sides fighting to completely defeat the other—it includes all means used to wage that fight. The only reason I think this war has seemed to be merely a military conflict is that groups on one side refuse to admit this is a war at all while groups (and I’d include the administration here) on the other side refuse to admit that sacrifice needs to extend outside the military.

To me, this is a war. Not a conventional one for sure, but a war nonetheless.

As for “terror,” that’s always been too imprecise. But how is “extremism” that much better? What’s so wrong with calling this what it is. A war on Islamic fascism. Is that too politically incorrect? Too scary?

I don’t get it. I don’t understand why this has been downgraded from a war to a struggle. And I don’t understand why the Bush Administration does not want to specifically identify the enemy.

They can call this what they want. But it’s still a war. And the enemy is still Islamic fascism.