|
||||
"Operation Enduring Freedom" (OEF) is the official name used by the U.S. government for the War in Afghanistan, together with a number of smaller military actions, under the umbrella of the Global "War on Terror" (GWOT).
The operation was originally called "Operation Infinite Justice" (often misquoted as "Operation Ultimate Justice"), but as similar phrases have been used by adherents of several religions as an exclusive description of God, it is believed to have been changed to avoid offense to Muslims, who are the majority religion in Afghanistan. U.S. President George W. Bush's remark that "this crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take a while", which prompted widespread criticism from the Islamic world, may also have contributed to the renaming of the operation.
The Operation comprises several subordinate operations:
- Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan (OEF-A)
- Operation Enduring Freedom - Philippines (OEF-P) (formerly Operation Freedom Eagle)
- Operation Enduring Freedom - Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA)
- Operation Enduring Freedom - Pankisi Gorge (completed in 2004)
- Operation Enduring Freedom – Trans Sahara (OEF-TS) (see also Insurgency in the Maghreb)
- Operation Enduring Freedom - Caribbean and Central America (OEF-CCA)
- Operation Enduring Freedom - Kyrgyzstan (completed in 2004)
The term "OEF" typically refers to the war in Afghanistan. Other operations, such as the Georgia Train and Equip Program, are only loosely or nominally connected to OEF, such as through government funding vehicles. All the operations, however, have a focus on counterterrorism activities.
Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan, which is a joint U.S., U.K. and Afghan operation, is separate from the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), which is an operation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations including the U.S. and U.K. The two operations run in parallel, and although it has been intended that they merge for some time, this has not yet happened.
Read more about Operation Enduring Freedom: Overview, Operation Enduring Freedom – Horn of Africa (OEF-HOA), Military Decorations
Famous quotes containing the words operation, enduring and/or freedom:
“It is critical vision alone which can mitigate the unimpeded operation of the automatic.”
—Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980)
“There’s an enduring American compulsion to be on the side of the angels. Expediency alone has never been an adequate American reason for doing anything. When actions are judged, they go before the bar of God, where Mom and the Flag closely flank His presence.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)
“The only conception of freedom I can have is that of the prisoner or the individual in the midst of the State. The only one I know is freedom of thought and action.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)