The use of "Geronimo" as codename for the U.S. military's mission against Osama bin Laden was apparently recent, The Washington Post reports.
The paper said the name didn't come up in news reports until this weekend. And no agency -- the Army, Navy or the CIA, for example -- has claimed credit for coining it.
“Geronimo EKIA," meaning "Geronimo, Enemy Killed in Action," was transmitted by the military when Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan.
The military has used Geronimo's name for projects in Afghanistan, according to the Post.
“It’s how deeply embedded the ‘Indian as enemy’ is in the collective mind of America,” Suzan Shown Harjo, the president of the Morning Star Institute, told the paper. “To this day, when soldiers are going into enemy territory, it’s common for it to be called ‘Indian country.’ ”
Harjo will testify at tomorrow's
Senate Indian Affairs
Committee hearing on racist stereotypes.
Get the Story:
American Indians object to ‘Geronimo’ as code for bin Laden raid
(The Washington Post 5/4)
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Geronimo's name with Osama mission (5/3)
Rep. Pearce: White House crowd celebrates Osama's
death (5/2)
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