"As some troops have discovered," writes Richard Leiby, "... you can serve in both Afghanistan and Iraq and end up with a medal recognizing just one war. It's known in military-speak as the GWOT (rhymes with 'fought') medal, for the Global War on Terrorism [3]." According to Pentagon spokesperson Jim Turner, "The GWOT medals tie today's global war to yesterday's global war, i.e. WWII. We are fighting across the globe and shall be for a long time." When asked "whether a 'political agenda' might lurk behind a medal lumping Operation Iraqi Freedom with the battle against al Qaeda," Defense Secretary Rumsfeld [4] replied, "Not that I can even imagine, no. This department is not involved with politics."