The language of war

President Bush is focusing on the language of the current U.S. conflicts. He says, "Make no mistake about it, we are at war."

A war on terror? Not a global struggle against violent extremism, as some of his top aides have taken to saying?

It is not clear whether the new language embraced by other administration officials was adopted without Mr. Bush's approval or whether he reversed himself after the change was made. Either way, he planted himself on Wednesday firmly on the side of framing the conflict primarily in military terms and appeared intent on emphasizing that there had been no change in American policy.