Rhetoric

Unleashing "Shock And Awe" At Home & Abroad

by John Stauber — March 1, 2003 - 11:00pm

"[O]n the first day of Gulf War II: Die Harder, the Pentagon reportedly intends to launch 300 to 400 cruise missiles at targets in Iraq -- more than during the entire 40 days of the first Gulf War. '[Y]ou have this simultaneous effect, rather like the nuclear weapons at Hiroshima, not taking days or weeks but in minutes," says Harlan K. Ullman, who ... did co-author the 1996 book that defined the strategy that the U.S. military will be following. Euphemistically known as 'Shock and Awe,' the plan is designed to cow those Iraqis it doesn't blow up into immediate submission.

Main Source: 
LA Weekly, St. Petersburg Times, March 2, 2003

Words vs. Deeds

by Sheldon Rampton — February 27, 2003 - 8:54am

Democrats on the U.S. House Appropriations Committee have produced a web page titled "Caught on Film: The Bush Credibility Gap," which contrasts statements by George W. Bush at various photo ops around the country with his actual deeds.

Main Source: 
http://www.house.gov/appropriations_democrats/caughtonfilm.htm

Self-fulfilling Prophecies?

by Sheldon Rampton — February 19, 2003 - 11:00pm

As the nation marches toward war in the Middle East, millions of Americans believe in Biblical prophecies of Armageddon that predict war and mass slaughters of Jews and Muslims. "Genocide, in short, becomes the ultimate means of prophetic fulfillment," writes historian Paul Boyer. "Without close attention to the prophetic scenario embraced by millions of American citizens, the current political climate in the United States cannot be fully understood. ...

Main Source: 
AlterNet.org, February 20, 2003

Christian Coalition Sponsors Anti-Islam Speakers

by Laura Miller — February 18, 2003 - 11:00pm

At a Christian Coalition symposium on Feb. 15, Don Feder, a syndicated columnist for The Boston Herald for 19 years, and Daniel Pipes, New York Post columnist and director of the right-wing Middle East Forum, agreed that militant Islamists are the real enemies of the U.S., reports O'Dwyer's PR Daily. Feder "railed against U.S. leaders who insist Islam is a religion of tolerance and compassion and charity," O'Dwyer's writes.

Main Source: 
O'Dwyer's PR Daily, February 19, 2003

Powell Welcomes Osama to the Rescue

by John Stauber — February 11, 2003 - 11:00pm

The White House is using Osama bin Laden's latest message to sell an attack on Iraq . Maureen Dowd notes that "the president and his secretary of state had been huffing and puffing to prove a link between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda. ... And then who but Osama himself should pop up on an audio tape, calling on Muslims to fight the U.S. if the 'infidels' attack 'our brothers in Iraq.' Osama's disdain for Saddam still gleamed through. ... Still, the administration pounced on the tape... Mr.

Main Source: 
New York Times, February 12, 2003

The Defence Of The Indefensible

by Laura Miller — February 11, 2003 - 5:45pm

"In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defence of the indefensible. ... Thus political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness, " George Orwell wrote fifty-five years ago in his essay "Politics and the English Language." In this month's Ecologist, Paul Kingsnorth points out the relevance of Orwell's words today.

Main Source: 
The Ecologist, February 2003

Lying Us Into War

by Sheldon Rampton — February 9, 2003 - 11:00pm

"President George W. Bush and his foreign-policy team have systematically and knowingly deceived the American people in order to gain support for an unprovoked attack on Iraq," writes writer and college communications instructor Dennis Hans, who tallies 15 "techniques of deceit" that Bush has used "to deceive the very people most inclined to trust him."

Main Source: 
Scoop (New Zealand), February 10, 2003

The Truth Behind Powell's "Poison Factory"

by Sheldon Rampton — February 8, 2003 - 11:00pm

"If Colin Powell were to visit the shabby military compound at the foot of a large snow-covered mountain, he might be in for an unpleasant surprise," reports Luke Harding. "The US Secretary of State last week confidently described the compound in north-eastern Iraq - run by an Islamic terrorist group Ansar al-Islam - as a 'terrorist chemicals and poisons factory.' Yesterday, however, it emerged that the terrorist factory was nothing of the kind - more a dilapidated collection of concrete outbuildings at the foot of a grassy sloping hill.

Main Source: 
Observer (UK), February 9, 2003

Downing Street's Deceit

by Laura Miller — February 6, 2003 - 11:00pm

"Downing Street was last night plunged into acute international embarrassment after it emerged that large parts of the British government's latest dossier on Iraq - allegedly based on 'intelligence material' - were taken from published academic articles, some of them several years old," the Guardian writes.

Main Source: 
Guardian (UK), February 7, 2003

A Skeptic's Battle Cry: 'Remember Nayirah!'

by John Stauber — February 5, 2003 - 11:00pm

The Wisconsin State Journal advocates a US attack on Iraq, but WSJ columnist George Hesselberg remembers 'Nayirah.' He recently wrote a column suggesting "perhaps we should question some of the evidence being gathered to justify an invasion of Iraq. The column was not appreciated by several readers, including ... Teddy Fedkenheuer, of Baraboo: 'To either accuse or blame an American President of lying to the American people ... is un-American. ... You are also implying that his stand on Iraq is also 'smoke and mirrors.' I find that offensive.' ...

Main Source: 
Wisconsin State Journal, February 6, 2003
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