BCT Editorial – 6/22/06

This page was last updated on June 22, 2006.

The big lie; Editorial; Beaver County Times; June 22, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“Republicans know that if you say something long enough and loud enough, people will come to believe it.”

[RWC] Kind of like editorials constantly telling us PA taxes are OK?

“Such is the case of their argument against setting a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. They contend the presence of U.S. and coalition forces is pivotal in fighting the war against terrorism and that establishing a timetable would undermine that effort.”

[RWC] Note that nowhere in this editorial does the author claim “the presence of U.S. and coalition forces is pivotal in fighting the war against terrorism and that establishing a timetable would undermine that effort” is false. In fact, at no point does the editorial identify any lie.

“But what they fail to mention is that the only reason Iraq has become a hotbed of terrorism is because the Bush White House created the situation by bungling the post-invasion by refusing to commit enough troops to secure that nation. What they’re trying to obscure is that Bush and his neocons have made Iraq a recruiting tool for terrorists.”

[RWC] The “not enough troops” argument again. While it’s fair to speculate that varying levels of troops would have had various outcomes, no one can say definitively that any given level of manpower would have resulted in a specific outcome. Claiming otherwise is the real lie.

Please read my critique of “Retool and refit” for more on this topic.

“What they don’t acknowledge is that this administration failed to provide the men and women on the ground with the proper equipment and leadership.”

[RWC] This is BS. By any imaginable standard, the U.S. military is far and away the best outfitted and led military in the world. Does that mean troops will always have 100% of what they need to meet 100% of all situations they may encounter? Of course not. The real measure is how quickly the military adjusts to changing requirements. This has been true for warfare since the beginning of time and will be true for all future wars.

“No matter how long or how loudly they try to draw attention to these facts, don’t fall for their deception.”

[RWC] This sentence doesn’t make sense to me based on everything written above. I could be wrong, but I believe the last sentence was intended to read, “No matter how long or how loudly they try to draw attention from these facts…” Repeating myself from previous critiques, do authors or their editors actually read what they write?