'War on terror' phrase emboldens extremists, Briton says

[fushigi]

Great Britain announced yesterday that it will stop using the phrase "war on terror." IMO, the US should follow, for obvious reasons. Who can fight "terrorism"? Fight terrorist groups and rogue countries, sure. Those have an end date. But a war on terror is, by definition, neverending. And a neverending war means neverending power for those who are engaged in it - on BOTH sides.

A senior politician in Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labour Party said that the Bush administration's commonly used phrase "war on terror" strengthens extremists. "In the U.K. we do not use the phrase 'war on terror' because we can't win by military means alone and because this isn't one organized enemy with a clear identity and a coherent set of objectives," the politician, Hilary Benn, said Monday at the Center on International Cooperation at New York University. <snip> The remarks by Benn, an aspiring deputy leader of the Labour Party who is sometimes mentioned as a possible foreign secretary once Blair leaves office, were seen here as a way to create distance from Blair's unpopular support for President George W. Bush. "The support of Bush has cost Blair his legacy," said Khalid Mahmood, one of four Muslim members of Parliament in Britain. "Hilary Benn is in the contest for the deputy leadership, and this is a way to make clear water between himself and Blair."