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Libya War: Why Is It Called Operation Odyssey Dawn?

Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom—those were war names that meant something! Is the Libyan assault meant to last 10 years, like Odysseus' journey? Josh Dzieza on the history of naming military operations, from Barbarossa to Blue Spoon, and what Odyssey Dawn really means.

articles/2011/03/22/libya-war-why-is-it-called-operation-odyssey-dawn/dzieza-odyssey-dawn_168290_t2jbp8
"The bottom line is that it was designed so there is no meaning," a U.S. military spokesman says of the name Odyssey Dawn. (Credit: Nathanael Miller, U.S. Navy / AP Photo)

Of all the things to hear crackle over an intercom, " Odyssey Dawn" probably isn't the one most likely to get your adrenaline pumping. At Vanity Fair, James

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