Words Mean Things

President Obama may drop the “war on terror” rhetoric, but will the terrorists drop their “war of terror” tactics. Will Obama’s use of “Overseas Contingency Operations” or “Man-made Disasters” encourage our enemies to stop the suicide bombings, attacks on civilians or provincial police. Will the change in rhetoric translate into a change of behavior? Will the overseas disaster operator stop using women and children as shields? Will they stop using schools and hospitals as bases of operations? Will they refrain from using their children as suicide bombers? Winning the war on terror is a lot more complicated than changing the words used to describe it. We can only hope it doesn’t require another Overseas Contingency Operation or Man-made Disaster on American soil to get the point across.