From President Bush’s televised press conference, April 13, 2004:
We’re at war. Iraq is a part of the war on terror. It is not the war on terror; it is a theater in the war on terror. And it’s essential we win this battle in the war on terror. By winning this battle, it will make other victories more certain in the war against the terrorists.
And for a rational, in-depth, and nuanced take on these theatrics, read Fareed Zakaria’s piece in Newsweek, April 19, 2004:
The date, June 30, is less important than the entity to which power is transferred. If that new government is seen as an American puppet, then challenges to it will persist, and America will find itself propping up an unpopular local regime that is doomed to fail. And that dilemma reminds one not of the British in Iraq, but of the United States in Vietnam.
3 replies on “Bush’s Iraqi Playbook/Playbill”
That seems unfair; you’re punning on the use of theater, but some readers won’t know that Bush’s use is a valid one. My dictionary (Webster’s Third New International) has its own entry for theater of war: “the entire land, sea, and air area that is or may become involved directly in war operations and includes the theater of operations in the zone of the interior.”
unfa, let me show you the lines preceding his above snippet:
“You’ve often heard me talk about my worry of weapons of mass destruction ending up in the hands of the wrong people. Well, you can understand why I feel that way, having seen the works of A.Q. Khan. It’s a dangerous — it was a dangerous network that we unraveled, and the world is better for it.
And so what I’m telling you is, is that sometimes we use military as a last resort, but other times we use our influence, diplomatic pressure and our alliances to unravel, uncover, expose people who want to do harm against the civilized world.”
what this means, with nary a doubt, is that bush is familiar with the verbal usage explained above by you, and has it lodged away in his head, but, in the great “bushism” tradition, used the notion of “theater” in this case in direct relation to putting on a show for the world, showing the world how terrorism can and will be defeated. nothing about the militaristic context you cite above; his context, which is very clear by reading the lines spoken immediately prior to the “theater” usage, is that Iraq is and shall be a symbolic venture for the US.
“with nary a doubt” ?!?!?
Mary-Margaret,
You take bad drugs, cause Bush clearly was in no way making a thespianesque reference. I so enjoy pointing out your continuing unconcern for facts.
I love ya, dude.