..Phrases of War..

[GSCole]

Fred,
There is no definitive attribution for Operation Infinite Justice, but
there are some related quotes from the WSJ article, all from page B3.

"Former Pentagon officials say names for significant military operations
typically come from the office of the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, and are then vetted by the Pentagon before being passed to the
president for the final choice."

"Smaller, routine operations, such as troop exercises, are given names
with the help of a computer, says Kenneth H. Bacon, a former Pentagon
spokesman."

"The Bush administration has learned the hard way that the wrong choice
of words can prove problematic.  The U.S. invasion in Afghanistan was
quickly switched to 'Enduring Freedom' from 'Infinite Justice,' says
Rear Admiral Craig Quigley, U.S. Navy, Ret., who was deputy assistant
secretary of defense for public affairs at the time.  Some felt that
'Infinite Justice' had religious connotations and that the U.S. was
trying to claim God was on its side.  The government today has 'a much
more savvy understanding of how you can have an effect on things by the
words you choose,' he says."

According to Bruce Vandervort, editor of the Journal of Military
History, past practices had a different purpose, "'We are hyping wars
now.'"

Additional quotes are from, among others:  Deborah Tannen, a professor
of linguistics at Georgetown University in Washington; and David Burd,
owner of Naming Co. in East Stroudsburg, PA.

George Cole
Shippensburg University