June 25, 2010 3:20 PM
- Text
Clinton: Term "War On Terror" Is History
(AP)
The phrase "global war on terror" is finished, at least as far as U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is concerned.
The top U.S. diplomat told reporters Tuesday that the Obama administration has quit using that line to describe the effort to fight terrorism around the world.
"The administration has stopped using the phrase and I think that speaks for itself," Clinton said.
Clinton spoke as she headed to Europe for a week of diplomatic meetings. The phrase "war on terror" is widely disliked in Europe and elsewhere overseas, where even close U.S. allies suggested it was overly militaristic and perhaps counterproductive.
It is also now associated with a range of Bush-era policies such as harsh interrogation practices that President Barack Obama has pledged to abandon.
Clinton was asked about the phrase as she headed to Europe for a week of diplomatic meetings. She said the absence of the "war on terror" language speaks for itself. Pundits have noted the absence, but top administration figures have had little to say on the subject before now.
"I haven't heard it used. I haven't gotten any directive about using it or not using it, it's just not being used," Clinton said.
Then-President George W. Bush used the phrase as a rallying cry after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Earlier this month, the Obama administration said that it was abandoning another one of Mr. Bush's key phrases: enemy combatant.
The Justice Department said in legal filings that it will no longer use the term to justify holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
The top U.S. diplomat told reporters Tuesday that the Obama administration has quit using that line to describe the effort to fight terrorism around the world.
"The administration has stopped using the phrase and I think that speaks for itself," Clinton said.
Clinton spoke as she headed to Europe for a week of diplomatic meetings. The phrase "war on terror" is widely disliked in Europe and elsewhere overseas, where even close U.S. allies suggested it was overly militaristic and perhaps counterproductive.
It is also now associated with a range of Bush-era policies such as harsh interrogation practices that President Barack Obama has pledged to abandon.
Clinton was asked about the phrase as she headed to Europe for a week of diplomatic meetings. She said the absence of the "war on terror" language speaks for itself. Pundits have noted the absence, but top administration figures have had little to say on the subject before now.
"I haven't heard it used. I haven't gotten any directive about using it or not using it, it's just not being used," Clinton said.
Then-President George W. Bush used the phrase as a rallying cry after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Earlier this month, the Obama administration said that it was abandoning another one of Mr. Bush's key phrases: enemy combatant.
The Justice Department said in legal filings that it will no longer use the term to justify holding prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
Popular Now in Politics
- Obama campaign launches "truth team"
- Santorum leads in Romney's home turf of Michigan
- Sarah Palin revs up CPAC faithful
- Mitt Romney wins Maine GOP caucuses
- CPAC: Will Sarah Palin spring a surprise?
- Ann Coulter riles up the CPAC crowd
- Mitt Romney wins CPAC straw poll
- Romney takes on hecklers at Maine town hall
- Santorum infers straw poll-rigging at CPAC
- Immigration speaker sparks controversy at CPAC
- Battle over contraception rule wages on
- What Does 'GOP' Stand For?
- Gov. Jindal prepping for national stage
- Romney on Obama: I will "knock him on his heels"
- Health Care Bill: What's In It?
- Rick Santorum: No longer such a long shot
- CPAC: Anti-Obama beats pro-Romney
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- N.D. education board sues to keep Fighting Sioux
- 17 to hospital after Calif. hotel chemical spill
- Summary Box: Empire State Building owner plans IPO
- Houston's body taken to airport for trip to NJ
on Facebook
- Whitney Houston 1963-2012
- Diane Aulger induces labor weeks early to let dying husband Mark hold baby
- 2012 Grammys: Red-carpet arrivals
on CBS News






