The Obama administration is giving the war in Iraq a new name, ABC News.com reported on Thursday night.
According to ABC’s Jake Tapper the war in Iraq, currently known as “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” will now be known as “Operation New Dawn.”
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates sent a memo on February 17, 2010, to General David Petraeus, Commander of Central Command, requesting that the operation name be changed on September of this year.
“The requested operation name change is approved to take effect 1 September 2010, coinciding with the change of mission for US forces in Iraq,” Mr. Gates said in the letter. “Aligning the name change with the change of mission sends a strong signal that Operation Iraqi Freedom has ended and our forces are operating under a new mission.”
The new name is not really new to American forces operating in Iraq. “Operation New Dawn” was the code name given by Iraqi leaders to the bloody battle for the Iraqi city of Fallujah in April 2004.
US forces had originally named this fight "Fallujah Fury," but Iraqi leaders suggested to change its name to “al Fajr,” or "New Dawn."
