I'm watching Rumsfeld's briefing on C-SPAN before bed, because I like heartburn. The lies, denials, and sidesteps are fun enough, but then there's just the plain dumbness. A reporter noticed that he has eschewed the term "insurgents" and asked him why he no longer dignifies the enemy with that label. He said he decided over the weekend that such a term would bestow undeserved legitimacy on their violence, because they are attacking a "legitimate government of Iraq, with its own constitution." This rhetorical move seems to concede the point that it would be an insurgency if we, as an occupying force, were the target, rather than the Iraqi population and/or government (since his parry is based on the target rather than the tactic). "But you look it up for me," Rummy concluded, in deference to the fact that he didn't really know what the hell he was talking about; so I did.
in·sur·gen·cy (n): an organized rebellion aimed at overthrowing a constituted government through the use of subversion and armed conflict
Yeah, that doesn't sound anything like what's going on in Iraq according to Rumsfeld.
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2 Comments:
Did you see the press conference where Rummy was answering questions along with some Joint Chiefs guy? Joint Chief guy was like "blah blah blah insurgents blah blah." And Rummy was like, "we don't use that word anymore." So Joint Chiefs guy tried his statement again, but tried to substitute a new word. Problem is, he couldn't think of another word. He started to laugh, realizing how silly the whole thing was. And then Rummy flashed that oh-so-charming grimace that is plastered on his face about 99% of the time.
It was hilarious. Not becaues Joint Chiefs guy looked dumb; you could tell he was really trying to find another word. But because Rummy looked like an absolute fool. I mean, trying to find some bogus word to describe something that already HAS A WORD to describe it is...well, preposterous. I wish I had the video clip for everyone's amusement.
It was that very briefing that I was watching, I'm pretty sure.
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