Krauthammer to Obama Administration: ‘Don’t ‘Play with Words’; Call it a War’

Krauthammer’s Take: Don’t ‘Play with Words’ — Call It a War (National Review Online)

The Islamic State has declared war on the United States by beheading two American journalists, and the Obama’s administration should do likewise rather than “play with words,” Charles Krauthammer said on Thursday’s Special Report.

“The problem is if you want to commit the nation to a serious military exertion . . . you can’t play around with language and pretend it is something else, and that disturbs me,” he said. Earlier in the day, Secretary of State John Kerry said describing the president’s strategy as a war is “the wrong terminology,” that the U.S. is going to engage in “a very significant counter-terrorism operation” instead.

“The tone of the president last night and in the follow-up tone today, which is all about minimizing what’s going on here, you really lose confidence in their seriousness about carrying it out and being open with the American people,” Krauthammer said.