No More "War on Terror" for Britain

I and a friend of mine was debating, as we often do, on the impact on the US War on Terror in Sri Lanka's conflict, among the things discussed was the use of the term "war on terror" or its Sinhalese equivalent used by the Rajapakse administration. Well, Britain it seems, have decided to drop the term "War on Terror", according to Military.com.

Perhaps the best speech on the futility of the term was given by Ron Paul, when the the Iraq war resolution was passed in congress,

The catch-all phrase, “War on Terrorism”, in all honesty, has no more meaning than if one wants to wage a war against criminal gangsterism.Terrorism is a tactic, you can't have war against a tactic. It’s deliberately vague and non definable to justify and permit perpetual war anywhere, and under any circumstances. Don’t forget: the Iraqis and Saddam Hussein had absolutely nothing to do with any terrorist attack against us including that on 9/11.

Special interests and the demented philosophy of conquest have driven most wars throughout history. Rarely has the cause of liberty, as it was in our own revolution, been the driving force. In recent decades our policies have been driven by neo-conservative empire radicalism, profiteering in the military industrial complex, misplaced do-good internationalism, mercantilistic notions regarding the need to control natural resources, and blind loyalty to various governments in the Middle East.

For all the misinformation given the American people to justify our invasion, such as our need for national security, enforcing UN resolutions, removing a dictator, establishing a democracy, protecting our oil, the argument has been reduced to this: If we leave now Iraq will be left in a mess. Implying the implausible that if we stay, it won’t be a mess.

Since it could go badly when we leave, that blame must be placed on those who took us there, not on those of us who now insist that Americans no longer need be killed or maimed and that Americans no longer need to kill any more Iraqis. We’ve had enough of both! [link to speech | see it on You Tube ]

Ok so I quoted more than what was necessary, but its a great speech. If you are really adventurous, see the bad-ass version of the speech here, or below (wait till the end bit).