War Names

Dear Readers:

Dr. Ink, who loves language, is wondering about “Shock and Awe,” the name given by the American military to the intended effects of bombing on Iraq. The name has a Biblical feel to it, an effect magnified by the Wagnerian theme music that introduces the NBC coverage of the conflict. (With early setbacks and casualties, Doc found himself sitting in front of his TV in shock and mumbling: “Awww!”)

The smarmy and sarcastic Maureen Dowd of The New York Times wonders whether a better name for the bombing campaign would be “Operation Who’s Your Daddy.”

Which leads Dr. Ink to a meditation on other possible war titles:

Operation Pound Iraq (with props to Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden, whose football motto is “Pound the Rock”)

Operation Iraqnaphobia

Operation Saddam and Gomorrah

Operation Infertile Crescent

Operation We Don’t Want Your Oil — Seriously

Operation Garden of “We Done!”

Operation Sand Doom

Operation Burning Bush

The Ninth Crusade

Operation Peter O’Toole

Operation Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Idiot