What the president did to hype his image and show support for the military was little different than any of his predecessors have done during war time
I don't doubt this for a second.
One of the more interesting things to me through all this is how differently people have heard things. For instance, many of us believe that, whether it was said directly or not, there was a great deal of implying Iraq was 1) very supportive of Al Qaeda to the point of being in bed with OBL and 2)that the danger from WMD was imminent.
So many people "heard" this, that I have a hard time believing it wasn't intentional, that the words were chosen and employed very carefully. Rightly or wrongly, the emphasis for immediately invading was placed on these connections, not on freeing the Iraqi, human rights, etc. Even the admin has admitted that. I've read all the arguments and support from both sides and have no need to revisit it. I know how I reacted.
Still, when you look at exact words separately, it is also hard sometimes to know how all that conflation occurred and I can only assume that one's conclusion is biased by already established beliefs and proclivities. (EDIT: also by a failure to be analytical and cautious-- but should an admin not be extra-clear in its explanations and rationale and not take advantage of this weakness?)
Same thing with that speech. To me, it reads very differently that it did for you. While he didn't say the troops were coming home, he also gave the impression that there was mostly minor clean up, a few dangerous areas, and we would leave behind a nice clean free Iraq. Yes, the war on terror would go on, but Iraq itself was pretty much a done deal. And look out, we will do the same to anyone who messes with us. And of course, above him the words MISSION ACCOMPLISHED- with a message far more easy to read than the careful words of a speech.
Maybe it's just a personality thing. I am not exactly a cowboy and tend to couch everything very temperately. I would rather speak with restraint- and not have to feel too stupid later. I already wind up feeling stupid a lot of the time even trying to be quiet.
But I do understand about PR, and I am not as critical as others of the whole political game. In this case, it backfired. Those are the risks. |
