Quote: “This is no more a war on terrorism than the Second World War was a war on submarines.” Marine Lieutenant General Wallace Gregson
Figure of Speech: Antapodosis (an tah POE doe sis), the side-by-side figure
A
kind of simile in which the nouns and verbs correspond, the antapodosis
can be one of the most persuasive of all figures. Take Woody
Allen’s convincing summary of secondary education: “Those who
can’t do, teach. Those who can’t teach, teach gym.”
General
Gregson’s antapodosis supports a favorite new tag line minted by
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld: what used to be a war on terrorism
is now a “global struggle against extremism.”
Snappy Answer:
"So it's not a war, it’s a struggle; therefore we’re not fighting,
we’re...what?"