Diction: Never Accidental
November 27th, 2006When I came across this in Editor and Publisher, I found it fascinating. The media is beginning to refer to Iraq’s Civil War without quotes around the term, “Civil War,” and that of course marks a major turning point. It is true that the Iraqis have been in a state of Civil War for perhaps a year, but nobody ever said that was more than a possibility. In hindsight we the American public and the American government were fooling ourselves and now, we’re calling it what it is. I’d be happier if people referred to the Civil War as a Civil Holy War as that is more like what it is.
Baby steps, though I do hope that the White House has understood now that we’re not just involved in a Civil War — it’s a Holy War, too, giving us far more to deal with. But one has to be foolish not to understand that this is a Civil Holy War and therefore, it’s in our best interest to back away because they’ll be fighting to the death for several years. The President has clearly come to terms with the changes necessary in Iraq (be it withdrawal, phased withdrawal or an addition of troops, the last one being something I’d like but that won’t happen because we don’t have the troops to add), and he’s now referring to Iraq as being in a “new phase,” which is good and bad.
They’re in the Holy Civil War phase. But, hey. At least he knows that. (I’d like to point out that the article says Bush is pushing for more international support to our effort in Iraq with soldiers and diplomacy which is nice. He doesn’t deserve much credit for doing something now that should’ve been done and could’ve been done way back when, but all the same, with this guy, it’s worth noting that he’s doing it at all.)