I find it more and more frustrating over time to continue to see Germany and France labeled our “allies” in the “War on Terrorism.” As I’ve said in the past, I don’t believe that we’re in a War on Terrorism, and whatever war we are in (I think it’s a war against fundamental Islamism and Arab nationalism), they are clearly not behaving as allies, in any sense of the word. The label seems to be a holdover from the Cold War, and with that conflict well over a decade behind us, it really no longer applies. I wonder who would complain if reporters at the NYT and WaPo simply stopped using this term as descriptive to countries that don’t walk the walk?

Of course, as Stephen Den Beste points out, continuing use of such a label makes it possible for the press to help reign us in, and prevent us from intensifying the war with Iraq (which never really ended), by making it appear that we are in it alone, which is of course unacceptable.

Which, of course, makes it clear that many in the mainstream press are not our “allies” either.