As part of a new campaign to reach out to the Arab world, newly inaugurated United States President Barack Hussein Obama is dropping the phrase "war on terror" from the U.S. diplomatic lexicon.
The catchphrase, which was introduced to America after the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, is being replaced as Obama's new administration works on raising the U.S.'s esteem in the Muslim world and distancing itself from George W. Bush's policies in Iraq and Afghanistan. The phrase "war on terror" has become associated with anti-Islamic or anti-Arab sentiments, according to national security analyst Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington in statements to the Associated Press.
Instead of fighting a 'war on terror', the Obama administration will fight a war against 'extremism'.
Obama's first phone call as president to an international leader was made to Fatah chief Mahmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen. As further testimony to his interest in strengthening ties with the Arab world, he conducted his first television interview with the Al-Arabiya television network, professing to the audience that "Americans are not your enemy." Al-Arabiya, based in Dubai, caters to audiences throughout the Muslim world, with its largest viewership in Saudi Arabia.
Obama also appointed George J. Mitchell as his special envoy for the Middle East, immediately setting him to the task of implementing a U.S. plan for creating an Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza. Former U.S. Senator Mitchell, a self-described Arab-American, is the author of the Mitchell Report, a 2001 fact-finding document which is credited with initiating George W. Bush's "Roadmap for Peace."