This is war

President Obama is fond of words, he came to prominence as a politician because he is an able writer and speechmaker — creative talent with words. But after his speech to the nation this week, outlining the long-term fight against a stubborn and lethal new enemy, it is time for him to stop finding other words for “war” and just admit we are in one.

{mosads}It seems the president got this message Friday when his spokesman Josh Earnest admitted, in an answer to a reporter’s question, that we are at war with the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Secretary of State John Kerry was still mincing words just the day before, saying it wasn’t war but “a very significant counterterrorism operation.”

The Obama administration has been fond of euphemisms for far too long. When Obama came into office he changed former President George W. Bush’s “Global War On Terror” to “Overseas Contingency Operations” Since we are now fighting an enemy who poses an unprecedented threat that’s going to be one hell of a contingency operation. Indeed, Obama and his team still believe that if he says enough times there will be “no boots on the ground” in the Middle East then he won’t be guilty of starting another “war.” But we have now have almost 2,000 boots on the ground. They can be called “special forces” and not combat forces but as former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge told CNN ” they’re not wearing sneakers.” This operation, no matter what it is called, cannot be conducted without American service men and women on the ground, no matter what they wear. We cannot train Syrian opposition groups from the air. Americans know that, no matter what words administration officials use.

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