Operation Geronimo name controversy

The Operation Geronimo name controversy came about after media reports that the U.S. operation to kill Osama bin Laden used the code name Geronimo to refer to either the overall operation, to fugitive bin Laden himself or to the act of killing or capturing bin Laden.
Initial press reports claimed that "Geronimo" was used in the raid to refer to bin Laden himself, but this was later contradicted by official sources. The official mission code name was Operation Neptune Spear, with Jackpot as the code name for bin Laden as an individual and Geronimo as the code word for bin Laden's capture or death.
The historical Geronimo was a leader of the Chiricahua Apache who defied the U.S. government and eluded capture. The use of Geronimo in this context was offensive to some Native Americans.
Unlike bin Laden, Geronimo was never killed by U.S. military forces. Channel 4 News said "According to some analysis today, the U.S. military chose the code name because bin Laden, like Geronimo, had evaded capture for years. If they were trying to avoid mythmaking, it seems they chose the wrong code name." Once bin Laden was killed, one of the commanders reported "Geronimo E-KIA", meaning that the mission had ended with the "Enemy Killed In Action".
Native Americans objected to the use of the name Geronimo. "It's how deeply embedded the 'Indian as enemy' is in the collective mind of America," said Suzan Shown Harjo, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Morning Star Institute, a Native American advocacy group. "There is little doubt use of a leader like Geronimo to refer to bin Laden is ill-advised," wrote Keith Harper, an attorney and member of the Cherokee Nation, in an email with a reporter for the The Washington Post.
The leaders of several native American Indian tribes urged President Obama to retroactively rename the military code name "Geronimo" used by the SEALS during the killing of bin Laden. Fort Sill Apache Tribal Chairman Jeff Houser sent a letter to President Obama, decrying the linking of "the legendary Apache warrior" to a "mass murder and cowardly terrorist...Unlike the coward Osama bin Laden, Geronimo faced his enemy in numerous battles and engagements. He is perhaps one of the greatest symbols of Native American resistance in the history of the United States.". Nez Perce member Loretta Tuell, staff director and chief counsel for the Senate Indian Affairs Committee said "These inappropriate uses of Native American icons and cultures are prevalent throughout our society, and the impacts to Native and non-Native children are devastating". Jeff Houser, chairman of Geronimo's Fort Sill Apache Tribe wrote a letter to President Obama saying "We are quite certain that the use of the name Geronimo as a code for Osama bin Laden was based on misunderstood and misconceived historical perspectives of Geronimo and his armed struggle against the United States and Mexican governments".

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