Categories
Grave

Agence France-Presse, welcome to the world of cynicism (though A.P. and Reuters have yet to join you)

laura_bush_germany_troops.jpg
An actual caption for this wire service image, by way of Agence France-Presse (take note of the so-called ‘snarky’ quotation marks):

First lady Laura Bush thanked US troops based in Germany for their work in the war on ‘terror,’ as anti-war protesters across the country geared up for her husband’s arrival (AFP/DDP/Martin Oeser)

RELATED: The A.P.’s more innocuous take on the same photo and event
EARLIER: War on Terror, War against Terror; War of Terror

6 replies on “Agence France-Presse, welcome to the world of cynicism (though A.P. and Reuters have yet to join you)”

Ok, is this woman’s face FROZEN like this? It’s maddening. She has No. Other. Expressions than the Joker smile.

Vive l’Agence France! Well, it is actually a war on Terrorism or Terrorists. The war on Terror is a private one. At any rate the caption is changed, to remove both the clarification and its need, for US distribution by AFP’s US partner, Getty. Finalement mon specialite!

Terror is a tactic. You cannot wage war on a tactic. It’s as stupid as waging war on a helicopter or smart bombs. You can only wage war on enemies. People who use terror, yes. Terror itself, no. Thus, we should be waging war on Al Qaeda (remember them), not terror.
Previous “War on”s — War on Drugs, War on Poverty — were rhetorical. Bush is not using his term rhetorically.
Problem is, a War on Terror can become whatever Bush wants it to be and it will never end!

The system has decided I’m a spammer. Unclear on that, oh well, I’ll check back later.

Comments are closed.