US News

O SHUNS ‘TERROR’

WASHINGTON — Turning from the “Global War on Terror,” Obama administration officials have coined a new term for their efforts that isn’t nearly as precise and that they believe won’t hurt as many feelings.

Now, it’s the “Overseas Contingency Operation.”

The edict came in an e-mail to the Pentagon from President Obama’s Office of Management and Budget, The Washington Post reported.

Asked about the new verbal tactic, first reported in a Washington Post blog, OMB Director Peter Orszag deflected blame to a lower-level staffer.

“I sometimes am amused by things that I read in the press. I saw that blog,” he said, adding he had nothing to do with it.

An aide said the memo was drafted by a “mid-level career civil servant.”