The Long, Protracted, Not-Going-To-Be-Over-Soon, War

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Reporter Tim Harper notes the Bush administration's shift from "War on Terror" to "The Long War." Communications professor Christopher Simpson explains, "The War on Terror brand had gone sour." Moreover, "if it is a Long War," then expanded executive powers "will be needed not just this year, but next year and for decades." Harper writes, "Although the first use of the term 'Long War' is credited in 2004 to Gen. John Abizaid ... it really had its public coming-out Jan. 31 in the U.S. president's State of the Union address." The new name is also used in the Pentagon's Quadrennial Policy Review. Max Boot of the Council on Foreign Relations says the administration doesn't "want this to be defined as a conventional war where the entire burden will fall on the military and they will be expected to win quickly." Heritage Foundation fellow James Carafano, who co-authored the 2005 book "Winning The Long War," says the Pentagon considered "The Protracted War," but "'protracted' is a five-dollar word."