Right you are. I think it goes deeper than that though. I believe the words chosen are purposely chosen. The idea is to say that which is unsayable politically. Although everyone understands that they supposedly mean a U.S led war on terror, they purposely write it to read "the U.S. led terror war. The intended message: the U.S. is a terrorist state waging war.
That is why the mass media are considered by many to be a fifth column.