Poorly chosen war code names backfired by inflaming target audiences

Evidence

The initial foray into sanitizing the Iraq war turned out to be a linguistic fiasco. The U.S. administration labeled the war on terrorism as a “crusade” fought under the code name Infinite Justice. Because of the incendiary historical connotation, labeling the invasion a crusade was the worst possible choice. Translated into Arabic, “infinite justice” suggested the trumping of Allah. This ill-judged metaphor inflamed Islamic fundamentalists. The military invasion was renamed Operation Iraqi Freedom. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2362

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• SHARE: A warhawk friend into military history would enjoy that ‘Infinite Justice’ translated into Arabic as trumping Allah — a concrete naming failure that backfired.