According to a memo from the SECDEF to GEN Petraeus, that's when Operation IRAQI FREEDOM will cease to be known by that name. Get ready for Operation NEW DAWN. The switch is timed to coincide with the changing mission for U.S. forces in Iraq, and "presents opportunities to synchronize strategic communications initiatives, reinforce our commitment to honor the Security Agreement, and recognize our evolving relationship with the Government of Iraq."
Interestingly, publishers and headline writers (not to mention the Obama Administration) have been using the hell out of the expression "new dawn" since at least 2004, and the GoI's Arabic name for what we called Operation PHANTOM FURY (the Fallujah offensive) was al-Fajr: "the dawn."
UPDATE: Here's the text of the memo, via Mike Allen via Jake Tapper of ABC. For what it's worth, Tapper was reporting this as an "exclusive" at 6:37 p.m. yesterday. You heard it here first!
If it were up to me, it would have a different name. I would ask the GoI, "what's that? You want us to leave? Okay, please specify an exact time." And then I would name it Operation If God Wills It. That's the response that I got from every IA Officer whenever I tried to nail down an exact time.
ReplyDeleteOperation BUKRA, INSHALLAH. I like it.
ReplyDeleteGod save us from defense officials and their attempts to change the dialogue by changing the title of the project but not its direction...
ReplyDeleteThanks, nice catch.
I think it should be Operation Bukra (fil) Mish Mish.
ReplyDeleteGod save us from defense officials and their attempts to change the dialogue by changing the title of the project but not its direction...
ReplyDeleteNot gonna lie: I may be in the minority, but I don't see anything particularly sinister about this. I mean "OIF" is sort of OBE, isn't it? Isn't Iraq free?
Yeah but "New Dawn" is pretty gay-sounding compared to OIF, which we're at least used to.
ReplyDeleteVA also puts "Operation Iraqi Freedom" on the gravestones of anyone who wants them.
ReplyDeleteI guess "Operation New Dawn" will be something of a bitter irony, so they'll probably stick with the old tomb markers.
SNLII