Brits Nix ‘War on Terror’

The British government has officially quit using the term “war on terror,” arguing that Bush’s slogan has backfired and, instead of weakening the world’s polyglot bands of terrorists, has in fact strengthened them.

BBC:

[Secretary of State for International Development Hilary Benn] said: “In the UK, we do not use the phrase ‘war on terror’ because we can’t win by military means alone.

“And because this isn’t us against one organised enemy with a clear identity and a coherent set of objectives.”

It is “the vast majority of the people in the world” against “a small number of loose, shifting and disparate groups who have relatively little in common,” he said.

“What these groups want is to force their individual and narrow values on others, without dialogue, without debate, through violence.

“And by letting them feel part of something bigger, we give them strength.”

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