The first news I heard of the oncoming US military action indicated that it’d be carried out in ‘unprecedented secrecy;’ no CNN cameramen peering over the shoulder of every grunt and endlessly-repeating segments of GBU camera footage.
On the whole, I thought, this is a good thing. War isn’t meant to be entertaining. Combat photographers certainly play an important role in documenting the proceedings; but pumping news-network Nielsen ratings isn’t in the job description.
There’s a fine line between documenting and glamorizing.
Given that, the code name ‘Operation Infinite Justice’ I’ve seen bandied about on CNN strikes me as a bit…melodramatic. I understand it’s a follow-on to “Operation Infinite Reach”, though why they’d name it after a failed operation is beyond me. (story here.)
Can anyone else picture that phrase appearing on commemorative GI Joe action figures within a month?
Does this bother anyone else, or am I just overreacting?
Do the slick graphics and dirge-like music buffering the news networks’ commercial breaks strike anyone else as being contrived, a layer of Hollywood whitewash that plays up the drama while simultaneously sterilizing the cold, ugly, violent truths behind them?
What happened to Walter Cronkite just sitting down in his chair and telling it like it was?
Anyone else? Or is this just me?
[sub]ye gods, what a pathetic first pit thread…[/sub]
According to today’s “Globe and Mail” in a short article entitled Code name has whiff of brimstone, this is a fairly familiar term in evangelical Christianity. “… defines God’s ‘infinite justice’ as His ‘terrible price’ exacted for the reinstatement to purity of ‘all His created humanity’”
I find it a bit troubling if they really are using Christian rhetoric considering the administration is trying to convince the area that this is not a war on Islam.
I think operation noble eagle refers to the defense of North America and is therefore separate from infinite justice.
The names struck me as melodramatic, too. I was talking to my friend Doug about it yesterday, and the only explanation we could come up with was that military operation naming has been contracted out to Capcom. If the next one is named “Nemesis,” we’ll know for sure.
that’s funny, waterj2, because I was thinking last night that “Old Testament Revenge” has a nice ring to it.
Also, on the readio this morning, I heard someone suggest “Operation Terrible Resolve”, it sounds somewhat menacing and has historical significance as well.
However, they just said on CNN that Operation Infinite Justice would likely be changed. Islamic scholars say that Islamics find the name offensive because they believe only Allah can despense infinte justice.
Well, that makes more sense, that infinite justice was intended to appeal to both christian and islamic sensibilites, that it has a similar meaning for muslims. Guess it backfired.
I gotta say, “Operation Infinite Justice” has a kind of self-righteous expansiveness that tickles the hell out of me.
This whole thing has unfolded like an awful action-movie/spy-novel, and I can just picture “Operation: Infinite Justice,” glaring up at me in lurid orange letters from a supermarket checkout display of trashy paperbacks.
Just when you think life in These United States can’t get more surreal . . .
It’s not a smattering of justice, oh no, it’s not a moderate amount of justice, or a heapin’ helpin’ of justice, no, it’s INFINITE JUSTICE!
You know, maybe I’m complacent, but as long as they don’t fuck things up, they can call it “Operation Defiled Bunny” for all I care…I guess I’ve sold out
Glad to see this thread - I was wondering if I was the only person who thought those names stank. Those names were obviously chosen to appeal to the public rather than being useful code names for military/government use!
I think this is another case of the Gulf War coming back to haunt us. I’ve always been under the impression that the gov/military chose short, descriptive, easy to write and speak names to facilitate communications. While for the life of me I can’t bring any to mind right now, I recall seeing several ‘operation names’ that were downright classy.
And Desert Shield morphing into Desert Storm was one of the best, nearly poetic. The public loved it. The media loved it. And a soldier could proudly say that he was involved in Desert Storm.
So now they are wasting the time and energy trying to think up fancy names that will appeal to the public, and failing miserably. ‘Noble Eagle’ is an, an . . empty name. It doesn’t create any impression of the purpose of the operation. I think 'Guardian Eagle’would have been much, much better - that’s a name to inspire pride and devotion to duty.
And ‘Infinite Justice’? Hell, it’s a damn tongue-twisting jaw-breaker. It doesn’t roll easily off the tongue. It’s awkward to say and write. There’s no poetry to it all. And it’s arrogant as hell. ‘Desert Outreach’ wouldn’t have been bad, and somehow comforting. Soldiers, citizens, and the media could have a good time with quiet little semi-private jokes about ‘reaching out and touching someone’, which would help to lessen the tension and increase confidence.
And along with the ‘crusade’ gaffe ::shaking head:: - President Bush needs someone on his staff who is savvy on this stuff and keeps an eye on it. I’m not criticizing Bush - it’s not like he doesn’t have enough to worry about! But these little screw-ups don’t help matters. There should be someone on his staff who is familiar with Middle Eastern culture to look over his speeches, etc. and steer him away from these pitfalls.
CNN’s reporting that they’re already planning to shit-can “Infinite Justice,” for many of the reasons cited here.
Where are the writers that gave us “Desert Shield” and “Desert Storm?”
If this involves as many countries as it seems it’s going to, both on the side fighting terrorism and those where terrorist elements exist, World War III is probably the most apt name.
(Fully recognizing they would never call it that, because for too long we have associated the idea of WW III with world-ending cataclysm.)
We were just saying that everybody feels like they have to support “anti-terrorism” legislation, 'cause if you don’t, it’s like being “pro-terrorism!” Same for “anti-bunny-raping” legislation.
“Senator, I see you’ve voted against this bill to allow capital punishment of bunny-rapers and random searches of the homes of suspected rabbit molesters. Does that mean you condone that brutal raping of innocent bunny-rabbits!?!”
Hey, stop looking at me funny. Angel of the Lord started the whole defiled-rabbits tangent.
Okay, now that I’ve explained the funny right out of that joke, I return you to a discussion of [echoey voice]INFINITE JUSTICE[/echoey voice].
