Is the War on Terror Really a War?

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General Richard Myers, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the National Press Club he never liked the phrase "war on terror," preferring "struggle against violent extremism." When Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld began using that language too, he was accused of "defeatism" by neoconservative hawks. President Bush put an end to the argument by reverting back to the "war on terror." The rhetorical debate has been a hot-button topic in Washington for the past two weeks. We speak with experts in international security and defense, and an aide to former Secretary of State George Schultz about how the argument got started, and how President Bush has resolved it. (An extended version of this program aired earlier today on To the Point.) Reporter's Notebook: American Nuclear Weapons Sixty Years after Nagasaki Control of nuclear weapons is a top priority of the Bush Administration, especially in Iran and North Korea. But America is the only country that's ever used a nuclear weapon. Sixty years ago today--three days after Hiroshima, the US dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. We look at why it was used then and what the future might hold with Robert Norris, author of Racing for the Bomb and senior research associate at the Natural Resources Defense Council.
General Richard Myers, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the National Press Club he never liked the phrase "war on terror," preferring "struggle against violent extremism." When Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld began using that language too, he was accused of "defeatism" by neoconservative hawks. President Bush put an end to the argument by reverting back to the "war on terror." The rhetorical debate has been a hot-button topic in Washington for the past two weeks. We speak with experts in international security and defense, and an aide to former Secretary of State George Schultz about how the argument got started, and how President Bush has resolved it. (An extended version of this program aired earlier today on To the Point.)
  • Reporter's Notebook: American Nuclear Weapons Sixty Years after Nagasaki Control of nuclear weapons is a top priority of the Bush Administration, especially in Iran and North Korea. But America is the only country that's ever used a nuclear weapon. Sixty years ago today--three days after Hiroshima, the US dropped a second atomic bomb on Nagasaki. We look at why it was used then and what the future might hold with Robert Norris, author of Racing for the Bomb and senior research associate at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Manhattan Project

Credits

Host:

Warren Olney

Producer:

Frances Anderton