Dems ban war terms through wishful legislation

Apparently our fine majority in Congress don't like the term "War on Terrorism" so much that they've just decided they won't use it in legislation any longer - without consulting the other side of thre aisle, it might be added. And the Washington Times raps their knuckles on it in no uncertain terms - HARD (via RCP).

"This is yet another sign that the Democrats are going hard-left on national-security issues generally and not just on Iraq -- in this instance, trying to airbrush away the very war on terrorism from our most basic defense legislation. This is also hypocrisy, simple and rank -- the sort that causes us to question motives."

The Times notes that the Dem. Armed Service Committee Chair, Ike Skelton of Missouri, uses the term when it suits his purposes - such as a 9/11 commemoration speech, or when criticizing the administration about Iraq. But now, however...I guess we'll just have to see. The Times also asks us to consider, for a moment, what it means to have not only the issues of terrorism, but the very term, and its global implications, "swept under the rug" in Orewellian rightthink.

"Consider the implications for a moment, though. If there is no real war against terrorism pitting civilized peoples against Islamist militants, then even Sen. John Kerry's vision of a war on terror which is "not primarily a military operation" can be viewed as unduly hawkish. It would mean that the attacks of the last decade, from Bali to Beslan to Madrid to Manhattan, can be regarded as disparate, unrelated events. Because al Qaeda and allied terrorist groups no longer have a hierarchical structure, any al Qaeda-inspired violence by the many hundreds of thousands of Islamist militants worldwide can also be regarded as disparate and unrelated. This is the intellectual path to subordination to Islamist terrorism, the problem defined away in semantics and doublespeak. It must be resisted."

We'll have to see if anyone is paying attention. Along with this, and the "defense" bill sure to be vetoed, I have almost no faith in the Congress.