What Would Ernie Do?

We seem to be on the verge of a transition in the language we use in writing about the war in Iraq. It's long overdue. While we have gotten over the cliched and unquestioning "shock and awe" and fascination with over-hyped weapons systems, we have been stuck with far too flowery language describing soldiers. Once again, TV is to blame. A few days ago, I heard Wolf Blitzer casually refer to soldiers as "warriors."

Now, the military, some politicians desperate to sound patriotic, war supporters and perhaps even some soldiers' families might like that phrase, there's no reason we should accept it. I'm trying to picture Ernie Pyle using similarly silly language and can't. Equally silly is "IED" when we mean bomb.