Following the September 11 attacks and US’s war on terrorism, on March 2003, bush announced that the US and its allies were invading Iraq. The name of the operation was “Operation Iraqi Freedom”.

What most people don’t know though, was that the initial name was not “Operation Iraqi Freedom” but “Operation Iraqi Liberation“.

The name was used by both the press and government officials, most notably by Ari Fleischer, the White House press secretary for President George W. Bush at the time: (the article continues after the ad)

The name can also be found on the press briefings of the period.

However, the name though was quickly changed when someone pointed out that the acronym spelled out “O.I.L”. Because the government couldn’t afford any association with the word OIL, the name was changed to “Operation Iraqi Freedom”.

Photo: Expert Infantry / Flickr,

Photoshop: I’m A Useless Info Junkie

Sources: Press Briefing by Ari Fleischer

