Wednesday, February 08, 2006

War and Words (by Hendrik Hertzberg, the New Yorker)


Note to the image: President George W. Bush reacts to applause during his State of the Union Address at the Capitol, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2006. White House photo by Eric Draper

link to the image source: the White House Website

The Talk of the Town
COMMENT
by Hendrik Hertzberg
Issue of 2006-02-13
Posted 2006-02-06


A President is well advised to choose his words carefully. This is something the incumbent, left to his own devices, is not always capable of doing. A State of the Union speech finesses that difficulty. The speaker speaks off the teleprompter, not the cuff. And the words that scroll down on the angled reflectors to his left and his right are as carefully—or, at any rate, as exhaustively—considered as bureaucratic thoroughness can make them. Every prepared Presidential address has multiple authors, but a State of the Union is the product of whole buildings full of them. The text that George W. Bush recited last Tuesday night had gone through thirty drafts.


It’s safe to assume, therefore, that the President was not speaking casually when he identified America’s mortal enemy as “radical Islam.” This is the latest milestone in a wandering terminological journey that began shortly after September 11, 2001. “War on terror” has always been problematic, at both ends. The word “war” has the requisite urgency, and it has proved useful in intimidating the political opposition at home. But, as we have seen in Iraq and elsewhere, its associations—pitched battles, clashing states, disciplined armies with general staffs—can invite actions that are, at best, beside the point. “Terror” is not a conquerable enemy, or an end in itself. It is a method of achieving some political goal, however outlandish or unrealizable—an ugly and frightening method, as was the bombing of civilian populations in the Second World War. But “war on terror” is a chimerical circle, like “war to end all wars.” Woodrow Wilson’s war to end all wars defeated imperial Germany, but it did not, and could not, defeat war. Nor can a war on terror defeat terror.


Now and then over the past couple of years, the Administration has halfheartedly tried to shed the straitjacket of its own slogan. “We actually misnamed the war on terror,” Bush mused in the summer of 2004. “It ought to be ‘the struggle against ideological extremists who do not believe in free societies who happen to use terror as a weapon to try to shake the conscience of the free world.’ ” A year later, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld made a run at substituting the catchier “global struggle against violent extremism.” It didn’t fly. Bush, who had decided that he wants to be a war President, not a struggle President, shot it down. But “struggle” would at least have acknowledged that warfare is not the sole solution, and “violent extremism” would have recognized a motive behind the method.


Last October, speaking at the National Endowment for Democracy, the President returned to the topic, floating more names for the “focussed ideology” that brought down the Twin Towers. “Some call this evil Islamic radicalism,” he said. “Others, militant jihadism; still others, Islamofascism.” As of last week, he seemed to have settled on “radical Islam.” It’s a bad choice, reminiscent of his early talk of a “crusade.” Violent jihadism, yes. Islamist (as distinct from Islamic) terrorism, yes. But not Islam, radical or otherwise.


There’s no doubt, of course, that terrorists of the Al Qaeda ilk are drawn from the ranks of adherents of “radical”—which is to say, extreme or fundamentalist—Islam. But radical Islam is a far broader and more variegated phenomenon than the terrorist virus that infects it. Its incarnations range from Al Qaeda to the clerical and legal establishments of Saudi Arabia. In virtually every iteration, it demands the subordination of women, the stunting of education, and the curbing of the freedom of speech, of the press, and of religion. It should be opposed, as part of America’s thirty-year-old campaign against violations of human rights. But it is not in and of itself a casus belli. Violence and terrorism are not intrinsic to it. And it is emphatically not something against which the United States should seek to fight a war to the death. One of Al Qaeda’s goals has been to frame the conflict as a holy war between Muslims and infidels. In calling it a war, Bush emphasized its seriousness, but at the cost of granting its criminal perpetrators the dignity of warriors. Calling it a war against Islam, even radical Islam, grants them the other half of their wish.


In the section of his speech devoted to the prospects for what he called “democratic reform across the broader Middle East,” the President said, “The Palestinian people have voted in elections, and now the leaders of Hamas must recognize Israel, disarm, reject terrorism, and work for lasting peace.” He was right to emphasize the aspects of Hamas’s ideology that are inimical to peace, rather than calling on it to abandon its (radical) Islamic identity. But he skated lightly over the implications for his own policies of Hamas’s victory in last month’s Palestinian legislative elections. All over the region, the unintended consequences are piling up. The elections in Afghanistan, Egypt, and Lebanon were a good thing, but they resulted in gains for, respectively, warlords, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Hezbollah. In Iraq, Bush asserted, “we are winning.” But the war there, which shows no sign of ending, has stretched America’s military to the limit, pinning it down while potentially more dangerous threats have gathered. The “weapons-of-mass-destruction-related-program activities” that Bush spoke of in his 2004 address have been found, but they turn out to be in Iran. And the Iranian theocracy—strengthened by high oil prices and an election in which a relatively moderate President was succeeded by a Holocaust denier—has won unprecedented influence in a strategically important neighboring country: Iraq.


On the related subject of homeland security, Bush had only two things to say. He demanded that Congress reauthorize—presumably without changing a word—the so-called Patriot Act, which was passed in haste shortly after the September 11th attacks. And he defended—no, boasted of—the National Security Agency’s vast, formerly secret program of warrantless electronic eavesdropping, undertaken on his orders and rebranded in his speech as “the terrorist-surveillance program.” “If there are people inside our country who are talking with Al Qaeda,” he said, “we want to know about it, because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again.” But those who are questioning Bush’s program, both Democrats and Republicans, agree that terrorists must be surveilled. What alarms them is not just that the President is breaking a particular law, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, but that his rationale for doing so amounts to a claim that he can flout any law at all, as long as the flouting is under cover of an endless (and, according to him, misnamed) war.


The evening’s only startling moment came when Bush announced that “America is addicted to oil, which is often imported from unstable parts of the world.” This acknowledgment, as welcome as it was overdue, was followed by a call for an increase in federal funding of research into alternative fuels. For this, and for failing to renew his call for drilling in the Arctic wilderness, the President was quickly attacked in a Wall Street Journal editorial as a Jimmy Carter clone, a liberal, and a co-opter of Democratic ideas—a fairly good indicator that he may be on to something. But it soon became apparent that, while he may be a reformed drinker, he is not yet a reformed oilman. “The best way to break this addiction is through technology,” he said. Whether or not it’s the best way, it’s the only way he mentioned. But relying solely on a cheap, painless technological fix to conquer oil addiction is like relying solely on methadone to conquer heroin addiction. Abstinence is needed, too. The energy equivalent is conservation, which is superior in every way to substitution. The best way to encourage conservation—and the true sign of a serious energy policy—would be imposing a hefty gasoline tax and raising mandatory fuel-efficiency standards. No points for guessing whether any such proposals found their way into the speech. Anyway, the subsidies Bush is proposing would, at best, restore research spending to its Clinton-era levels. Two days after the speech, the Times reported that the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory will begin laying off workers next week, thanks to a fifteen-per-cent cut in its current budget. The State of the Union address was a disappointment only to those who were foolish or forgetful enough to expect something better.



link to the original posting

243 comments:

1 – 200 of 243   Newer›   Newest»
Anonymous said...

buy generic tramadol tramadol 50mg over counter - buy tramadol online without prescriptions

Anonymous said...

generic ativan online ativan kids - ativan withdrawal anxiety

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol 180 need to purchase tramadol - buy tramadol and soma

Anonymous said...

ativan lorazepam where to buy ativan online - ativan withdrawal chest pain

Anonymous said...

buy ativan online order lorazepam no prescription - ativan side effects

Anonymous said...

buy klonopin .5 mg klonopin and alcohol - street value 2mg klonopin

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online with mastercard tramadol 50 mg and ambien - side effects tramadol hcl 50mg tablet

Anonymous said...

buy klonopin difference between klonopin vs generic - klonopin for dental anxiety

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online tramadol reactions - can get high tramadol hydrochloride

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol mastercard tramadol for dogs drug interactions - buy generic tramadol online

Anonymous said...

zolpidem no prescription ambien side effects next day - ambien cr 12.5 mg dosage

Anonymous said...

tramadol cheap best place buy tramadol online reviews - does tramadol 50mg look like

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol what does 100 mg tramadol look like - tramadol hcl 50mg get you high

Anonymous said...

ambien on line ambien withdrawal symptoms - good stories ambien

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol mexico tramadol tablets dosage - tramadol to buy online

Anonymous said...

order tramadol no prescription tramadol withdrawal duration symptoms - buy tramadol online cod only

Anonymous said...

buy klonopin 3 mg klonopin erowid - 2 mg klonopin and alcohol

Anonymous said...

ambien online buy ambien cr in canada - ambien side effects withdrawal

Anonymous said...

tramadol online buy tramadol with paypal - tramadol over the counter

Anonymous said...

ambien sale ambien 10mg coupons - ambien cr during pregnancy

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online buy tramadol online cheap - buy ultram online no rx

Anonymous said...

buy ambien online overnight ambien side effects ear ringing - rebound insomnia after ambien

Anonymous said...

where to buy tramadol what does 100 mg tramadol look like - tramadol hcl 50mg get you high

Anonymous said...

buy soma online no prescription aura soma 90 - soma 1984

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol 100mg tramadol order online tramadol 50mg - tramadol dosage people

Anonymous said...

tramadol 100 buy tramadol rx online - buy tramadol hydrochloride

Anonymous said...

ativan for anxiety ativan overdose dose - ativan liquid

Anonymous said...

klonopin without prescriptions is 2mg . of klonopin a high dose - klonopin 2 mg vs xanax 2mg

Anonymous said...

zolpidem 10 mg que es ambien cr - can you buy ambien usa

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online tramadol 50 mg norge - buy tramadol generic ultram

Anonymous said...

generic carisoprodol cost of generic soma - soma muscle drug

Anonymous said...

buy ambien online ambien sleep eating disorder - many ambien high

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol for dogs clonazepam tramadol high - tramadol 50 mg bluelight

Anonymous said...

generic ambien buy ambien drug interactions benedryl - ambien withdrawal hallucinations

Anonymous said...

order soma online somatoform disorder - soma drug generic

Anonymous said...

generic sildenafil viagra for women where to buy - where can i buy viagra online safely

Anonymous said...

buy ambien online no prescription ambien side effects weight gain - ambien cr crushed

Anonymous said...

buy discount tramadol order tramadol overnight shipping - tramadol online australia

Anonymous said...

buy ambien online generic ambien at walmart - ambien side effects heart palpitations

Anonymous said...

klonopin online how long does a klonopin high last - dosage of klonopin

Anonymous said...

online soma soma no prescription saturday delivery - buy soma from usa

Anonymous said...

buy cheap soma buy soma legally - generic name of soma

Anonymous said...

sildenafil 100mg buy generic viagra online - buy viagra online without rx

Anonymous said...

cheap klonopin online 2mg klonopin m - dxm klonopin erowid

Anonymous said...

buy klonopin online no prescription klonopin withdrawal gaba - klonopin xanax dosage

Anonymous said...

tramadol order tramadol arkansas - buy ultram online cod

Anonymous said...

buy clonazepam klonopin withdrawal relief - blue klonopin 64

Anonymous said...

buy viagra cheap generic viagra from canada - buy online viagra viagra

Anonymous said...

ambien online ambien side effects hiccups - ambien zolpidem dosage

Anonymous said...

order viagra online without a prescription viagra online without prescription.au - buy herbal viagra online

Anonymous said...

cheapest soma soma 350 mg tablet - soma bringer

Anonymous said...

soma online cheap soma online - cheap holidays soma bay egypt

Anonymous said...

buy viagra 100mg generic viagra prescription online - purchase viagra in mexico

Anonymous said...

generic cialis tadalafil cialis coupon online - order cialis india

Anonymous said...

buy viagra sample buy viagra zimbabwe - mail order viagra review

Anonymous said...

cialis online order generic cialis online no prescription - cialis jelly sachet

Anonymous said...

buy viagra cheap viagra mexico - cheap 25 mg viagra

Anonymous said...

buy soma online where to buy soma intimates - generic soma with codeine

Anonymous said...

tramadol buy tramadol online paypal - buy tramadol online next day delivery

Anonymous said...

how to buy viagra online without order generic viagra forum - generic viagra 5 pills

Anonymous said...

viagra buy purchase viagra online pharmacy - viagra super active

Anonymous said...

tramadol 50 mg purchase tramadol online cheap - tramadol dosage bnf

Anonymous said...

buy cialis online cheap cialis отзывы - where to purchase daily cialis

Anonymous said...

buy viagra next day delivery viagra for women cnn - viagra canadian pharmacy no prescription

Anonymous said...

discount viagra viagra online usa - cheap viagra no prescription needed

Anonymous said...

buy viagra online reviews buy viagra - viagra dosage daily

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol cod fedex buy tramadol online 100mg - tramadol dosage headaches

Anonymous said...

buy cheap viagra no prescription buy generic viagra us - viagra 20 years old

Anonymous said...

buy viagra online no rx purchase viagra using paypal - order viagra online overnight

Anonymous said...

buy viagra online legally cheap viagra and cialis on line - generic viagra shipped from canada

Anonymous said...

buy cialis in usa cialis price daily use - cialis trial

Anonymous said...

generic finasteride cheap propecia online canada - propecia 5mg vs 1mg

Anonymous said...

cialis online pharmacy buy cheap cialis uk - cialis online ricetta

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol hcl tramadol addiction lawsuits - tramadol 50mg street value

Anonymous said...

buy propecia propecia results regrowth - propecia experience

Anonymous said...

tramadol online no prescription tramadol 50 mg can you get high - buy tramadol visa

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online buy tramadol cod online - tramadol with acetaminophen dosage

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online cod overnight buy tramadol online no prescription mastercard - tramadol 50 mg opiate

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online tramadol for dogs online - buy tramadol online cash delivery

Anonymous said...

order viagra generic viagra online forum - viagra online discover card

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol buy tramadol generic ultram - best place buy tramadol forum

Anonymous said...

buy cialis usa cialis online reviews - cialis online-versand

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol free shipping tramadol gastric bypass - tramadol 50 mg lexapro

Anonymous said...

cialis online buy cialis 5 mg canada - cialis софия

Anonymous said...

best buy tramadol tramadol hcl xr 200 mg - buy tramadol valium online

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol buy tramadol online no prescription canada - tramadol 800mg ibuprofen

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online buy tramadol cod next day delivery - tramadol withdrawal in cats

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol cod cheap tramadol pay us - tramadol hcl contraindications

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol buy tramadol online no rx - buy tramadol us

Anonymous said...

buy retin-a online retin a micro mechanism action - retin a micro success stories

Anonymous said...

tramadol 50mg effects tramadol overdose dogs - next day tramadol mastercard

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol overnight tramadol 50 mg weight loss - buy tramadol usa next day delivery

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol free shipping tramadol no prescription overnight delivery - can order tramadol online legally

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol 150 mg tramadol high - buy tramadol money order

Anonymous said...

buy generic tramadol where to buy tramadol online forum - tramadol hcl oral tablet 50 mg

Anonymous said...

tramadol 50mg signs of tramadol addiction - 100mg tramadol for pain

Anonymous said...

propecia online propecia drug interactions - propecia hair loss

Anonymous said...

tramadol no rx tramadol hcl powder - tramadol overdose antidote

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol no prescription buy tramadol online yahoo - is buying tramadol online illegal

Anonymous said...

buy propecia online propecia 0.5 - where can i buy generic propecia in the united states

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online tramadol online overnight no prescription - treatment of tramadol addiction

Anonymous said...

tramadol no prescription buy tramadol online safely - tramadol next day

Anonymous said...

tramadol 50 mg order tramadol online us pharmacy - buy tramadol online mastercard

Anonymous said...

finasteride mg propecia causes cancer - propecia vs provillus

Anonymous said...

legal buy tramadol online buy tramadol with cod delivery - tramadol 50 mg high

Anonymous said...

order tramadol online overnight tramadol withdrawal ease - tramadol withdrawal kratom

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol will 50mg tramadol do you - cheap generic tramadol

Anonymous said...

generic viagra best website to order viagra - purchase genuine viagra online

Anonymous said...

viagra online without prescription viagra 65 - buy-viagra-online.net

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol buy tramadol online dogs - tramadol high lasts

Anonymous said...

viagra for sale viagra dosage by weight - buy viagra paypal accepted

Anonymous said...

tramadol online discount tramadol no prescription - tramadol sandoz l.p. 100 mg

Anonymous said...

viagra online without prescription viagra in us - buy viagra online legit

Anonymous said...

cheap tramadol tramadol hcl breastfeeding - трамадол описание

Anonymous said...

tadalafil online generic cialis online no prescription - cialis что это

Anonymous said...

cheap viagra viagra online american express - buy viagra edmonton

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol tramadol 50mg equal - tramadol online in uk

Anonymous said...

order viagra buy 200 mg viagra - viagra 0800

Anonymous said...

cheap viagra viagra us pharmacy online - viagra before and after

Anonymous said...

buy cialis online is it safe to order cialis from canada - buy cialis cheap us pharmacy

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol us tramadol online pharmacy - tramadol 50mg weight loss

Anonymous said...

buy cialis professional health online cialis - best place buy cialis online forum

Anonymous said...

order viagra online viagra online discreet - generic viagra reviews forum

Anonymous said...

cialis without prescription get prescription cialis online - order cialis paypal

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol tramadol take get high - buy tramadol online bluelight

Anonymous said...

sildenafil citrate viagra online no rx - buy viagra online with a mastercard

Anonymous said...

generic viagra buy viagra online 25mg - cheap generic viagra review

Anonymous said...

buy viagra cheap cheap viagra online prescription - safest place buy viagra online

Anonymous said...

cheap viagra buying viagra online guide - viagra buy online in us

Anonymous said...

buy cialis generic cialis available - cialis rebate coupon

Anonymous said...

cheap generic cialis cialis in women - low dose cialis online

Anonymous said...

buy cheap cialis cialis price walmart - cialis online rezeptfrei kaufen

Anonymous said...

cialis without prescription buy cialis online legal - cialis bathtubs

Anonymous said...

cheap cialis online cialis viagra best price - cialis daily in canada

Anonymous said...

generic cialis reviews on cialis vs. viagra - order cialis internet

Anonymous said...

cheap viagra online buy viagra from boots - buy generic viagra online paypal

Anonymous said...

tadalafil online cialis price south africa - cialis 30 mg

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online order tramadol 50mg - buy tramadol online free shipping

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online tramadol hcl nsaid - tramadol dosage severe pain dogs

Anonymous said...

soma medication soma bras las vegas - effects of soma pills

Anonymous said...

soma for sale 9 panel drug test soma - buy discount soma online

Anonymous said...

buy soma soma line no prescription - soma bras

Anonymous said...

soma pharmacy buy soma online without rx - buy soma texas

Anonymous said...

soma pharmacy soma 350 mg drug - drug interactions soma benadryl

Anonymous said...

buy soma online soma show up drug screen - soma muscle relax er

Anonymous said...

buy soma online soma medication buy online - black keys soma san diego tickets

Anonymous said...

somas online somo 650 user manual - soma 917

Anonymous said...

buy cialis buy cialis online - cialis 36 hour pill

Anonymous said...

online soma soma wadhwa for sale childhood - buy soma magazine

Anonymous said...

soma buy soma porteur rack - generic soma online

Anonymous said...

buy soma cheap somatropin hgh - soma muscle relaxer usa

Anonymous said...

buy soma buy 120 soma online - soma online us pharmacy

Anonymous said...

buy soma soma muscle relaxant review - cheap breakfast soma

Anonymous said...

buy soma pills called soma - soma san diego passion pit

Anonymous said...

soma medication buy 120 soma online - soma 01915

Anonymous said...

soma drug soma handlebars - buy soma hair care

Anonymous said...

order soma online what is soma pills side effects - cheap somatropin

Anonymous said...

buy soma soma urban dictionary - purpose soma medication

Anonymous said...

generic soma soma muscle relaxer pregnancy - muscle relaxer better soma flexeril

Anonymous said...

buy soma i love soma pills - buy soma online pharmacy

Anonymous said...

order soma online what is soma 350 mg street value - soma muscle relaxant

Anonymous said...

soma online pharmacy buy soma with cod - legend soma online

Anonymous said...

buy soma soma drug side effects - buy soma online yahoo answers

Anonymous said...

buy retin a retin a cream 0.05 reviews - retin a micro gel and pores

Anonymous said...

soma online soma drug testing show up - soma drug overdose

Anonymous said...

buy soma online soma pills overdose - get soma online

Anonymous said...

soma cheap discount coupon for soma - soma seeds

Anonymous said...

buy soma online soma 350 mg erowid - buy tickets soma san diego

Anonymous said...

soma for sale soma pills fun - soma online mastercard

Anonymous said...

buy soma online what is a soma considered as on a drug test - soma birthday discount

Anonymous said...

online soma soma san diego upcoming shows - order soma online no rx

Anonymous said...

buy cialis online buy cialis online ireland - cialis lowest price

Anonymous said...

buy soma buy soma online texas - buy soma online no rx

Anonymous said...

generic cialis ordering cialis online legal - buy cialis 20 mg online

Anonymous said...

buy retin a buy retin a online - buy retin a gel online no prescription

Anonymous said...

soma drug where to buy soma cube - generic soma online

Anonymous said...

buy soma soma vs zanaflex - soma for sale cheap

Anonymous said...

buy retin retin a wrinkles results - buy retin a online no prescription

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol without rx tramadol dosage dogs 50mg - tramadol hcl 50 mg para que sirve

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol tramadol hcl neuropathy - can take tramadol high blood pressure

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol best website order tramadol - 50mg tramadol high dose

Anonymous said...

buy retin a retin a 5 months - is retin-a gel for hyperpigmentation

Anonymous said...

cheap tramadol tramadol hcl other names - buy tramadol safely

Anonymous said...

cheap tramadol 200 tramadol buy - tramadol 7.5

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol free shipping tramadol hcl medicine - is it illegal to purchase tramadol online

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol ultram side effects tramadol hci 50mg - tramadol 50mg information

Anonymous said...

cheap tramadol buy tramadol online reviews - can you buy ultram over the counter

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol cheap no prescription tramadol t7 - buy tramadol medication

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol buy tramadol online overnight - tramadol dosage 500mg

Anonymous said...

can you buy tramadol online buy tramadol online overnight cod - tramadol 100mg info

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol no rx ultram side effects rash - buy tramadol in missouri

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol medication tramadol for dogs online - tramadol qt interval

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online order tramadol echeck - tramadol 100 mg side effects

Anonymous said...

tramadol 50 mg tramadol cause high - tramadol hcl 50 mg high

Anonymous said...

tramadol cheap tramadol for dogs anti inflammatory - buy tramadol online reviews

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online buy ultram tramadol online - how to buy tramadol online overnight

Anonymous said...

cheap tramadol tramadol online bluelight - buy ultram online cheap

Anonymous said...

buy cialis online generic cialis with no prescription - buy cialis online usa

Anonymous said...

buy tramadol online no prescription cod tramadol 50 mg erowid - purchase tramadol uk

Anonymous said...

buy generic tramadol no prescription do you withdrawal tramadol - where to buy tramadol over the counter

«Oldest ‹Older   1 – 200 of 243   Newer› Newest»