Spin me dizzy…
So, the better we do the more things go the hell? Here’s what President Bush says about the current situation in Iraq:
“The more successful we are on the ground, the more these killers will react,” Bush said as he sat in the Oval Office with L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator in Iraq. He added: “The more progress we make on the ground, the more free the Iraqis become, the more electricity is available, the more jobs are available, the more kids that are going to school, the more desperate these killers become, because they can’t stand the thought of a free society.”
Ah, but wait. While I believe every utterance is rhetorical, I do not believe every utterance is spin, i.e. doublespeak. And I do not believe the President’s assertion is spin. It is, however, a good bit of rhetoric and sound enthymematic logic.
If we assume that chaos is an initial goal of the terrorists and that we are “normalizing” Iraq, then it is completely logical that terrorists should step up their attacks to accomplish the initial goal. (Attention EN106 students: Bush’s assertion is an enthymeme. I’ll give 2 bonus points for the first one to send me e-mail with a well-constructed syllogism based on it.)
An enthymematic argument most certainly is a rhetorical tactic. Another is throwing the hounds off the trail, which Bush’s statement also accomplishes. Citizens have a right to information–good and bad–coming from Iraq. The administration should address the implications of such information because of its policy to wage war. It must account for the bad as well as take credit for the good.
Yes, it is the terrorists who are exploding car bombs across Iraq (and we must stop them). But, also yes, it is the administration that is responsible for the entire situation (re: the flypaper argument) in Iraq now that the U.S. is “in control” based on a policy to wage war and build a nation.
(Qualification: Politicians are responsible for the effects of policies they implement, i.e. they are responsible for the entire situation.)
I think spin is still the word for it. Yes, if we were closer to success you could argue in the abstract the terrorists would get desperate and try harder. But we can’t be close to success in any meaningful way when they can do this sort of thing at will. And if we were really close to success, they should be losing support and resources, so they couldn’t set a new record for kills in one day by Iraqi terrorists.
Points up for grabs…
There are still 2 bonus points up for grabs for EN106 students. A few of you could really use them….