British minister scrubs “War on Terror” from vocabulary

ODD ANDERSEN/AFP

A junior British government minister and rising star of the Labour Party has attacked the use of the phrase “War on Terror” as counterproductive and encouraging to terrorists. Hilary Benn, International Development Secretary and son of socialist clown Tony Benn, made the remarks at the Center on International Cooperation, a think tank at New York University.

In the UK, we do not use the phrase ‘war on terror’ because we can’t win by military means alone, and because this isn’t us against one organized enemy with a clear identity and coherent set of objectives… by letting them [the terrorists] feel part of something bigger, we give them strength.”

Mr. Benn is widely expected to become either deputy prime minister or foreign secretary when Gordon Brown’s long-dreaded takeover from Tony Blair finally arrives. But if this is what counts as fresh thinking in the Labour Party, then its future is bleak.

I was living in the United Kingdom when the “War on Terror” began, and when it took a detour into Iraq. I didn’t meet a single person who treated this archetypal Bushism with anything but bemused disdain; Mr. Benn’s revelations could hardly be more conventional wisdom there if they were read out at the start of every BBC news bulletin. With thinkers like Mr. Benn, the Brown government could skip the honeymoon period with the British people, and go straight to Blairite disillusionment. David Cameron, rejoice!