Selling the Iraqi war to the U.S. public - about the words used,

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Selling the Iraqi war to the U.S. public

By LAURIE KELLMAN



WASHINGTON (AP) - The invasion of Iraq has its own lexicon, a shorthand way for the U.S. government to sell the war against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in palatable, familiar terms.

So Operation Iraqi Freedom was the name given to the U.S.-led military campaign, supported by a "coalition of the willing" - in the absence of UN approval - to overwhelm the enemy through a strategy of "shock and awe." The goal was to bring about a "domino effect" of democratization among the Arabs, who remain unsure whether a U.S. attack on a "target of opportunity" already has "decapitated" Iraq's undemocratic government.

Experts say round-the-clock coverage, the Internet and robust skepticism emanating from inside and especially outside the United States these days make the rhetorical battlefield more important than in conflicts past.

"You weren't as concerned 50 years ago about the impact of words," said Conrad Crane, director of the U.S. Army Military History Institute. "This war is being fought as much on the airwaves as much as it is on the ground."

Sensitive to the power of rhetoric despite his professed preference for plain talk, Bush early on hewed to euphemism when he described his ultimate goal in Iraq.

"The policy of my government is the removal of Saddam," he said nearly a year ago. But, he added, "I think 'regime change' sounds a lot more civil, doesn't it?"

Likewise, "decapitation" of Saddam's government is not as personal as "killing Saddam." Other descriptives, like the "liberation" of the Iraqi people from their Iraqi ruler, soften less generous possible motivations.

Some of this war's code words are new and play on phrases that long ago took hold in popular culture.

The MOAB superbomb acronym, for example, stands for Massive Ordnance Air Burst. Staying faithful to the acronym, the military nicknamed it "mother of all bombs," a spoof of Saddam's "mother of all battles" war cry a dozen years ago.

"Shock and awe"- the suddenly ubiquitous phrase to describe the Pentagon's strategy of hitting the Iraqis hard enough to stun them into quick surrender - was adopted by the Bush administration from a 1996 study, "Shock & Awe: Achieving Rapid Dominance," by the Defense Group, a Pentagon contractor.

Hundreds of journalists are not only covering troop movements, they're "embedded" within them.

The U.S. administration is trying to muscle other military lingo into new shape, arguing that the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks changed the nature of protecting the country.

The trigger for military engagement has been changed, for example, according to the White House.

Where the United States in previous conflicts avoided striking unless directly provoked, the pounding of Iraq is part of a "pre-emptive" philosophy aimed at preventing future terror before a new assault is on the horizon.

Even the process of naming this conflict, and the broader war on terrorism, has become sticky and sometimes confusing business. Under post-Vietnam Pentagon rules, names must not be overly bellicose, offend good taste or a particular culture or ally, or employ exotic words, trite expressions or well-known commercial trademarks.

Thus, the Pentagon scrapped the original name for the anti-terror war, Infinite Justice, to avoid offending Muslims, for whom concepts of finality are associated with Allah.



http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/Ir.../49571-ap.html

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Have to admit: good marketing.