Month: January 2005
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Seymour Hersh on “Insurgency”
I’m not the only one who thinks this word is huge piece of deceptive and delusional spin. Seymour Hersh isn’t worrying about dictionary definitions, though: I think there’s a way out of it, maybe. I can tell you one thing. Let’s all forget this word "insurgency". It’s one of the most misleading words of all.…
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U.S. Intelligence Report: Iraq is Making the World More Dangerous
The National Intelligence Council* just issued Mapping the Global Future: Report of the National Intelligence Council’s 2020 Project. Significant among its findings: Iraq is a training ground for terrorists. "The al-Qa’ida membership that was distinguished by having trained in Afghanistan will gradually dissipate, to be replaced in part by the dispersion of the experienced survivors…
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Social Security: Sham “Risk” Arguments
I hate it when people who I agree with use stupid arguments to support their (our) positions. It sets us up as straw-men that our rhetorical opponents can swat at will. The AARP’s ads about Social Security privatization fall right into that trap. Their position? Privatized funds invested in the market are like gambling. "If…
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Insurgents surging in from inside and outside
It seems that the military is pretty unclear on what an "insurgent" is, as well. As reported in the VOA News (that’s Voice of America) on Dec. 16, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, General George Casey expressed " concern that insurgents are still infiltrating into Iraq from across its border with Syria. General…
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Know your enemy: is Al Quaeda: “coming” or “flooding” into Iraq?
In his testimony on January 7, Attorney General hopeful Alberto Gonzales said, "We had members of Al Qaeda, intent on killing Americans, flooding into or coming into Iraq." Which is it? Coming or flooding? Does he know? Does anyone know, either in or outside of the (American or Iraqui) administration? Is the press asking? Nobody…
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Admitting I’m Wrong: “Insurgents”
If there’s one thing I admire, it’s people who are willing to acknowledge when they’re wrong. In that spirit, I must concede my sister’s point: "Insurgent" comes from roots meaning "rising up," not my assumed meaning of "surging in." Dictionary.com definitions for "insurgent" So, it’s a perfectly accurate word to describe the anti-American (and quite…