# Operation Iraqi Liberation

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-iraqi-liberation/164797>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 28, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-iraqi-liberation/164797 "2003-03-28T16:00:09Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@TJ555\_The\_Golfer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJ555_The_Golfer)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-iraqi-liberation/164797/1 "2003-03-28T16:00:09Z")

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Was Operation Iraqi Freedom originally called Operation Iraqi Liberation? If so, why was the name changed?

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/operation-iraqi-liberation/164797/2 "2003-03-28T16:36:20Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Jay Leno: “In more serious news, the war continues in Iraq. They’re calling it ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom.’ They were going to call it ‘Operation Iraqi Liberation,’ then they realized, uh-oh, that spells ‘OIL.’”

[here](http://www.agweb.com/news_show_news_article.asp?nodate=Y&file=AgNewsArticle_2003326824_1336&articleid=96451&newscat=AGL)  
I haven’t seen anything yet on the _actual_ genesis of the operation’s name.