Operation “Hope -n- Change” name scrapped by White House

ABC News is reporting that President Obama has decided to rename the Iraq War. Out will be the name “Operation Iraqi Freedom,” which will be replaced with “Operation New Dawn,” according to ABC’s senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper, who failed to secure the list of other names that were considered and scrapped.

But Dirt Diver won’t let you down. The Diver has learned from White House spokesman Robert Gibbs that a long list of possible names were considered before settling on “Operation New Dawn.”

According to Gibbs, Senior White House officials submitted suggestions, and then First Lady Michelle Obama pulled the winning name out of a bowler hat belonging to assistant press secretary Bill Burton.

The original winning entry was “Operation Hope -N- Change,” submitted by the President himself.  However, after intensive focus group testing in a facility near the Baghdad Green Zone, senior advisor David Axelrod decided to scrap it.

“It just wasn’t testing well,” Axelrod told Dirt Diver.  “I’m not exactly sure why.  It worked so well just 18 months ago, and now it’s as if nobody believes in hope or change anymore.”

Other names that were rejected:

• Operation Iraqi Stimulus
• Operation Cash for Clunky Iraqi Government
• Operation Too Big To Fail
• Operation Gaffe Prone
• Operation Everything is Going to be Awesome Now
• Operation It’s Harry Reid’s Fault

We’re told this is only a partial list.  If any Diver readers manage to secure the full list, please submit it via our contact form.

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