U.S. commander orders quick end to "long war"

By Andrew Gray

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military's Central Command has stopped calling its fight with Islamist militants the "long war" and says the change reflects its aim of reducing troop levels in Iraq and Afghanistan over time.

Gen. John Abizaid, the previous head of Central Command, coined the phrase to stress that the broader conflict with militants would not end with the current wars and the term has been widely used by senior U.S. officials and commanders.

President George W. Bush used the phrase in his State of the Union address last year.

"Our own generation is in a long war against a determined enemy," he said.

But Abizaid's successor, Adm. William Fallon, has decided the term sends the wrong message to the Middle East, the area covered by his headquarters, by suggesting intense combat with many U.S. troops will continue there for a long time to come.

"The idea that we are going to be involved in a 'Long War', at the current level of operations, is not likely and unhelpful," Lt. Col Matt McLaughlin, a Central Command spokesman, said in an e-mail message on Tuesday.

"We remain committed to our friends and allies in the region and to countering al Qaeda-inspired extremism where it manifests itself, but one of our goals is to lessen our presence over time," he said.

"We didn't feel that the term 'Long War' captured this nuance," McLaughlin said.