The Obama administration has changed the name of the US occupation of Iraq from Operation Iraqi Freedom. Defense Secretary Robert Gates issued a memo this week announcing the war in Iraq will be re-branded as “Operation New Dawn.” Gates wrote the name change marks “a strong signal that Operation Iraqi Freedom has ended and our forces are operating under a new mission.” Operation New Dawn shares the same name as the November 2004 US attack on Fallujah that killed hundreds of Iraqi civilians and displaced thousands more.