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Posted on 09/25/2001 10:28:20 AM PDT by RCW2001

Tuesday September 25 12:34 PM ET

U.S. Renames Buildup 'Operation Enduring Freedom'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Moving to repair any damage to Muslim sensibilities, the United States on Tuesday changed the code name of its military buildup in response to the Sept. 11 attacks on America to ``Operation Enduring Freedom.''

The change was made after the initial name -- ``Operation Infinite Justice'' -- last week ran into objections from some Islamic scholars on grounds that only God, or Allah, could mete out infinite justice in their view.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters of the new name at a Pentagon (news - web sites) briefing. He stressed this was just the designation for the current military buildup and not for the overall U.S. assault on international terrorism using economic, political and diplomatic means.

The initial name surfaced last Wednesday, not long after the Bush administration apologized for another term that could alienate Muslims it would like to include in a coalition to fight terrorism in the wake of a Sept. 11 attack on America.

Earlier last week, the White House said it regretted if President Bush (news - web sites)'s Sept. 16 call for a ``crusade'' against terrorism had offended anyone. That reference summoned up in the Arab world the Christian struggle from the 11th to 13th centuries to recapture the Holy Land from the Muslims.

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