It's the New, Improved Iraq War!

The Pentagon is formally rebranding the Iraq war by changing its name from "Operation Iraqi Freedom" to the sunnier "Operation New Dawn," to reflect the reduced role the American military is supposed to have in that country over the next year. The new name is scheduled to go into effect in September, 2010.The more optimistic moniker comes after months of deadly bombings in Iraq, and after an aide to the governor of Iraq's Anbar province, Khari Abdul Hadi, expressed "resignation bordering on despair" about the latest bombings in the province, according to the New York Times. The re-naming of the war to "Operation New Dawn" happens during the same week that the U.S. military launched a major new assault in Afghanistan, and after the Obama administration unveiled a military budget of unprecedented proportions.