Posted on 09/30/2014 6:52:32 PM PDT by Kaslin
Normally, when a President orders the military into action, the White House gives the operation a name to reference for the duration. Operation Desert Shield turned into Operation Desert Storm when George H. W. Bush shifted from deterrence to offense when Saddam Hussein refused to pull out of Kuwait. The operational name for the 2003 invasion ordered by George W. Bush was called Operation Iraqi Freedom, paralleling the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan’s Operation Enduring Freedom after the 9/11 attacks. Bill Clinton named the brief 1998 missile attack on Iraq Operation Desert Fox. That operation lasted all of four days, but still got an official operation handle.
What operational name has been selected for the fight against ISIS, which is expected to last for years? So far, it’s Operation Anonymous:
Yet in Syria and Iraq, despite weeks of airstrikes now numbering in the hundreds, the deployment of more than a thousand U.S. troops, a complex multi-national strategy to train local forces, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s declaration that the U.S. is at war against Islamic State group, the ongoing campaign still proceeds unnamed. …
The Pentagon usually selects names for operations, sometimes at random, sometimes to help sway Congress to provide financial or policy support. But ultimately it’s up to the White House to shape the public message of an important foreign campaign.
This latest reticence to delineate the strategy — and offer some colorful terminology to represent it — has left many E-Ring watchers, including some who used to operate inside its walls, scratching their heads.
When asked most recently whether the military operations in Iraq and Syria had a code name, the Pentagon spokesman continued what has become a string of blunt answers.
“No. It has not,” Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said Thursday. He added, “I know of no plans at this time to name it.”
And so, what could be one of the defining battles of the early 21st century remains anonymous.
Former Green Room contributor Libby Sternberg e-mailed me earlier this morning to ask if I’d heard the operation name yet, and then found the above report from US News. At Liberty Unyielding, Libby had a good suggestion for the name — Operation Hey Don’t Blame Me:
Labels don’t fight US wars, of course. The good men and women of the military do. That said, the reluctance of the administration to give this operation a name speaks volumes. The president was elected by a war-weary population and doesn’t seem all that comfortable with military action in general. I personally suspect he’s a pacifist, an honorable position to hold but not a good characteristic for one who aspired to be Commander-in-Chief. …
Being Commander-in-Chief means you might have to send men and women into harm’s way. The very least you can do is lead the cheerleading for them.
Operation names for public consumption are always exercises in self-promotion, as the above references demonstrate amply. If the administration had taken a position to end that practice, that might have been a noteworthy effort in executive modesty. However, the Obama administration has been issuing operation names for everything else, as US News notes; the US effort to fight Ebola has been dubbed Operation United Assistance, when it isn’t even a DoD operation but a USAID mission.
The obvious conclusion in this case is that the White House has little enthusiasm for this fight. That’s a terrible message to communicate, really just another and more petty form of self-promotion. Maybe someone at the Pentagon can muster up the effort to put together an adjective and noun for the President to use — not necessarily for cheerleading, but at least to act as though this is his idea.
Operation “Save the Senate”
WAFJ? What a f’n joke?
Makes it easier for Obama to deny his Wars in the Future
I thought the previous one should have been Operation GREAT JUSTICE. I think this one should be Operation WHAT HAPPEN?
“Operation Shadowbox”
Even small CPXs and FTXs had names when I was in. I was told I was the first 1st Cavalry Division trooper ever promoted in Europe during Operation Crested Eagle when I made Spec/4.
Any operation Obama initiates should be called SNAFU or at the very least FUBAR.
‘Operation Do Over’ aka ODO
obama has looked lonely lately, maybe it will call it operation Reggie.
Since this is an Obama operation, I suggest the following names:
Operation White Flag
Operation Yellow Belly
Operation Community Organizer
Operation Get Out of Baghdad
Operation Slight Tap on the Knuckles
Operation Lightweight
Nothing against our brave military but you are being led by a Marxist asshole, aka the President, who favors the Moslem extremists more than he does our country.
You have a head of the JCS who until recently was an Obama asskisser par excellence. He should have been given a Purple Heart for the bleeding lips he got from kissing Obama’s ass so much, and a Yellow Feather for being such a coward in failing to stand up to O’s PC shit and his disarming of the military.
Secy of the Navy - Useless. Secy AF, almost useless. Secy of the Army - questionable guts. Marine Corps - in danger of being PCed to death (got that from the inside).
Coast Guard - hopefully holding strong.
Secy of Defense - Hagel - a coward and a fool (Biden lite)
Secy of State - a coward and a traitor
former Secy of State - a political shyster and coward
Where the hell is Patton now that we need him? Dead? So what. Dig him up, put a new uniform on him, and put him on a handcart to move him into a command position. Our men will follow him rather than the whimps we have now.
OPERATION ZERO.
Active Duty ping.
American Jihad
Name for a military operation “led” by ObeyMe? Hmm... for some reason, I think it needs to start with Cluster... yeah, Cluster-something.
Operation Mid (from MIDdle east) Terms (from TERMinationS)...
“Operation Midterms”.
Operation Kenya West
Operation Bush’s fault.
You won !
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