Because Operation National Suicide was already taken

The Washington Post has an unintentionally funny article about the marketing aspects of empire. Even the military realizes the propaganda power of positive marketing: naming a war Operation Preemptive Invasion and Occupation doesn't sound as pleasing as Operation Glad Tidings of Benevolence. But sometimes even the marketing geniuses -who make the death and destruction of pointless war sound like a missionary trip- let the cat out of the bag.

For the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Pentagon's top brass settled on Operation Iraqi Freedom. But at least one administration official publicly called the assault Operation Iraqi Liberation, providing fodder for conspiracists and late-night comics.

"They're calling it 'Operation Iraqi Freedom,' " TV comic Jay Leno quipped at the time. "They were going to call it 'Operation Iraqi Liberation,' then they realized, uh-oh, that spells 'OIL.' "

In a related note, Charles Krauthhammer advocating perpetual war should be codenamed Operation Wheelchair Bound Warmonger. It sounds so much better than the Fox News All Stars.