..Phrases of War..

[Mark A Mandel]

On Tue, 25 Mar 2003, GSCole wrote:

#"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."

As I recall the writeups at the time, "infinite justice" is considered
in Islam as specifically one of the attributes of God alone, and was
seen by many Muslims as being deliberately blasphemous or offensive.

-- Mark A. Mandel