In November, members of Just Foreign Policy wrote to the Washington Post, asking it to change its “AfPak” news header: stories about the US war in Afghanistan were preceded by the news header:
“The AfPak War: Combating Extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan”
Just Foreign Policy noted that this news header editorialized in news stories, promoting the claims that 1) the US is “combating extremism” in Afghanistan and Pakistan and 2) Afghanistan and Pakistan are “one theater” of conflict.
The Washington Post has now changed its news header, taking on board the second criticism but not the first. It now reads:
“Obama’s War: Combating Extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan”
See, for example, the news story on Matthew Hoh’s resignation, which is now preceded by this header.
U.S. official resigns over Afghan war
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/26/AR2009102603394.html
Of course, one consequence of Hoh’s critique of the war is that the United States is not, in fact, “combating extremism,” but rather promoting it.