President Obama's latest admonition to the world gives one cause to wonder yet once more about the confused discursive choices being made by him and his administration. Bending over backwards not to say 'war on terror', committed rather to a war against violent extremists, the president nonetheless warns:
... the single biggest threat to US security... short-term, medium-term and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organisation obtaining a nuclear weapon. This is something that could change the security landscape in this country and around the world for years to come.
We know that organizations like al-Qaida, he went on to say, are trying to secure nuclear weapons. But if they're a terrorist organization, how come war may only be waged against them under their title of violent extremists? Questions to which the answer is dunno.