What, Was "Operation New Shimmer" Already Taken?

As Steve Green wrote the other day, in a more confident era, before the neutering effects of political correctness, America gave its military operations names such as these:

Husky.

Torch.

Anvil.

Overlord.

Olympic.

Linebacker.

Reforger.

Rolling Thunder.

These are the names we used to give our military operations. Forceful names. Decisive names. Military names. OK, so Operation Olympic got called off — but only because we’d already nuked the crap out of a couple Japanese cities. After that, an actual invasion just seemed so over the top.

So now comes word that US Marines (and our Afghan allies) are finding the fight unexpectedly tough in Marjah. One report even says they’re “bogged down.”

The name of the operation: “Togetherness.”

‘Nuff said.

Or as sage poetess Janis Joplin once melodically cooed, freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose:

ABC News has learned that the Obama administration has decided to give the war in Iraq — currently known as Operation Iraqi Freedom — a new name.

The new name: “Operation New Dawn.”

Great. So now we have a military operation that sounds like a dish washing detergent — or perhaps offers the suggestion that Tony Orlando will be stopping by on the next USO tour. Either way, that’ll beef up troop morale.