National Strategy for Victory in Iraq
It takes a lot to get me to write about politics, especially when there’s plenty of other stuff on my plate, but the National Strategy for Victory in Iraq(PDF Courtesy of the Beeb) is the most laughable document I’ve had the pleasure of reading in a while. It is little more than overt propaganda for the war and current administration, chock full of the best-of-the-best sound bites from National Security Council Members since 2003.
“There’s always a temptation, in the middle of a long struggle, to seek the quiet life, to escape the duties and problems of the world, and to hope the enemy grows weary of fanaticism and tired of murder. This would be a pleasant world, but it’s not the world we live in. The enemy is never tired, never sated, never content with yesterday’s brutality. This enemy considers every retreat of the civilized world as an invitation to greater violence. In Iraq, there is no peace without victory. We will keep our nerve, and we will win that victory.â€
-President George W. Bush, October 6, 2005 (emphasis in original)
I suppose I wouldn’t have such a problem with this document if it were written as, say, a position paper, with thoughtful, well-researched opinions from someone not a bedfellow of the White House. But the format of this document is what pisses me off most: it’s a PowerPoint slide show in printed form.
There are no less than 4 levels of data: The title at the top of a section, a big arrow point, a bullet point, and a potentially misleading checkmark point. At first glance, it seems like we’ve already done the things checked off (especially after reading the introduction, which declares “The following document articulates the broad strategy the President set forth in 2003 and provides an update on our progress as well as the challenges remaining.” Emphasis mine, but there is no section labelled accomplishments anywhere in the document.)
I have to think the style of the document is intentional, since this is for mass public consumption. In a society where some 100 Billion PPT slides are manufactured yearly, how better to gloss over 2 years and 2,000 American Casualties than by watering down the war into a few bullet points?
I’m not asking for a timetable to end the war. We’ve tried that already, and the White House has balked. Fine. But I do expect the troops home soon. I expect that American problems should be treated with more importance than building a society centered around 8 pillars of varying Republican-Conservative ideals like non-regulated business and self-reliance. In a scary thought, as their own country turns against them slowly, the Bush White House is forcing more and more of itself onto Iraq.
“America will not impose our own style of government on the unwilling. Our goal instead is to
help others find their own voice, to attain their own freedom and to make their own way.”
Yeah, right.
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