As is now more or less routine, in his speech at the New Economic School in Moscow Barack Obama referred to the war on terror. He didn't call it that, of course:
Now, in addition to securing the world's most dangerous weapons, a second area where America has a critical national interest is in isolating and defeating violent extremists.
For years, al Qaeda and its affiliates have defiled a great religion of peace and justice, and ruthlessly murdered men, women and children of all nationalities and faiths. Indeed, above all, they have murdered Muslims. And these extremists have killed in Amman and Bali; Islamabad and Kabul; and they have the blood of Americans and Russians on their hands. They're plotting to kill more of our people, and they benefit from safe havens that allow them to train and operate - particularly along the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan.
And that's why America has a clear goal: to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat al Qaeda and its allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The reference isn't obscure. By 'violent extremists' he means what some take him to mean - terrorists. So why not say it? In order not to make a connection that might be deemed offensive? But he does make that connection, willy-nilly, in saying that al-Qaida have 'defiled a great religion of peace'. One can say the very same thing as he says about 'violent extremists' in conjunction with calling them 'terrorists'. So it's a bit of a puzzle. And it's the whole of a FKATWOT - 23rd in the sequence. Maybe Obama is looking towards the acronym WAVE.