The administration is engaged in a never-ending struggle over acronyms. You may recall that senior officials a couple of years ago wanted to stop talking about a Global War on Terrorism, the GWOT or the WOT, and come up with something that would comport with the realities of the fight against international terrorism. One leading option was to change the name to GSAVE — Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism.

Clearly not as catchy as GWOT, but it had the singular virtue of more accurately describing the battle, some officials felt. Then Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld even used the GSAVE abbreviation publicly. But, in a White House meeting, President Bush ruled that it was still a war for him, and Rumsfeld went back to GWOT.

The newest front in the abbreviation conundrum is in Iraq. The administration is setting out to rename its closest Shia ally, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), one of the most powerful Shia parties, which changed its name a few months ago. SCIRI, in what some observers saw as an effort to distance itself from its Iranian mentors, decided in May to drop the word “revolution” from its name and to become known as the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC). But SIIC, or “sick”, is not an appealing name for winners.

It’s even more unfortunate since its leader, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, is suffering from lung cancer. No matter. Administration officials are mulling a more appropriate name, even though the organisation and everyone else calls it the SIIC. One possibility under consideration is calling it the Supreme Council of Iraq — SCI, or “ski”.

... contd.