Under Obama, `War on Terror' Catchphrase Fading

[Purveyor]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The "War on Terror" is losing the war of words.

The catchphrase burned into the American lexicon hours after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is fading away, slowly if not deliberately being replaced by a new administration bent on repairing the U.S. image among Muslim nations.

Since taking office less than two weeks ago, President Barack Obama has talked broadly of the "enduring struggle against terrorism and extremism." Another time it was an "ongoing struggle."

He has pledged to "go after" extremists and "win this fight." There even was an oblique reference to a "twilight struggle" as the U.S. relentlessly pursues those who threaten the country.

But only once since his Jan. 20 inauguration has Obama publicly strung those three words together into the explosive phrase that coalesced the country during its most terrifying time and eventually came to define the Bush administration.

Speaking at the State Department on Jan. 22, Obama told his diplomatic corps, "We are confronted by extraordinary, complex and interconnected global challenges: war on terror, sectarian division and the spread of deadly technology. We did not ask for the burden that history has asked us to bear, but Americans will bear it. We must bear it."

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AP: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iSMDANzyrbvIM0FVsOo3bgjLZBTwD9626QSG0

[Captain Hilts]

1. It's the Ongoing Struggle Against Violence and Terror. From Gee-WOT to OSAVAT. nt

[PSPS]

2. "coalesced the country during its most terrifying time"

But only once since his Jan. 20 inauguration has Obama publicly strung those three words together into the explosive phrase that coalesced the country during its most terrifying time and eventually came to define the Bush administration.

Gee, AP. Project much?