Wednesday, April 14, 2004
DEPT. OF EXEGISIS From the lede of a front page story by Andrew Jacobs and Simon Romero in today's New York Times:
Hate to nitpick here, but few could have imagined? I can understand few would have expected. But one of the arguments made by informed war critics (in obscure places like, um, the op-Ed page of The New York Times) was that an invasion of Iraq might very well end in something like chaos.
So let's put an end to this few could have imagined nonsense. Right now.
The sentiment is, of course, entirely valid. All the same, if I was the brother or son of a solider camped out on the outskirts of Falluja, I don't know how I'd feel about her appropriation of the word "volunteers."
They were driven by the promise of six-figure salaries or a powerful sense of patriotism. For others, the decision to sign up for a job in the cauldron of Iraq was motivated by desire to help ordinary Iraqis improve their lives. Among the tens of thousands of American citizens working in Iraq, few could have imagined how dangerous their jobs would become. (Italics added.)
Hate to nitpick here, but few could have imagined? I can understand few would have expected. But one of the arguments made by informed war critics (in obscure places like, um, the op-Ed page of The New York Times) was that an invasion of Iraq might very well end in something like chaos.
Here's Bill Bradley in The Washington Post on February 2, 2003:
What will happen when the shooting stops is far from clear. If we are to be seen as more than transparent hypocrites, we will have to not only win a war and maintain a military presence in Iraq, but also to preside over the development of democracy in a country that makes the former Yugoslavia seem homogeneous. This is a multi-year commitment that could take thousands of U.S. lives and billions of dollars, yet there appears to be no plan for carrying it out.
So let's put an end to this few could have imagined nonsense. Right now.
Anyone who gave serious thought to the post-war situation could have imagined scenarios similar to--and worse than--the status quo. To suggest otherwise is to engage in revisionism.
AND ANOTHER THING: A few paragraphs down, Halliburton spokesman Wendy Hall, commenting on the disappearance of Halliburton workers and the subsequent discovery of mutilated bodies, says:
"Our workers in Iraq are courageous volunteers in service to their country and their loved ones."
The sentiment is, of course, entirely valid. All the same, if I was the brother or son of a solider camped out on the outskirts of Falluja, I don't know how I'd feel about her appropriation of the word "volunteers."
