Five years ago Iraq was invaded by the US. President Bush marked the fifth anniversary of the invasion with a speech hailing victory in Iraq. Politics is a power-game, but does logic and reason play any part in it?
According to Barack Obama, the answer is no. He has said the invasion was on ideological grounds and not based of reason and facts.
Except for the die-hard, it is now accepted that the "fact" of Iraq possessing an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction is a fiction, a factoid used emotionally to engender fear and support for launching an attack that was bound to and has caused many Iraqi and American lives.
The dictionary definition of "factoid" is "an invented fact believed to be true because of its appearance in print". I would add also: appearance in the media and public speeches.
Politicians often resort to factoids. They expect something to be believed because they say it is so, and surprisingly because they have said it many accept the factoid to be a fact.
Bush says that the terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of American cities. Fact or factoid? Were there terrorists in Iraq before (or even after) the invasion?
"Defeating this enemy in Iraq will make it less likely we will face this enemy here at home," he also says. Fact or factoid? Was there an Iraqi enemy massing to fight in the streets of American cities?
And victory in Iraq - that may be the mother of all factoids.
According to Barack Obama, the answer is no. He has said the invasion was on ideological grounds and not based of reason and facts.
Except for the die-hard, it is now accepted that the "fact" of Iraq possessing an arsenal of weapons of mass destruction is a fiction, a factoid used emotionally to engender fear and support for launching an attack that was bound to and has caused many Iraqi and American lives.
The dictionary definition of "factoid" is "an invented fact believed to be true because of its appearance in print". I would add also: appearance in the media and public speeches.
Politicians often resort to factoids. They expect something to be believed because they say it is so, and surprisingly because they have said it many accept the factoid to be a fact.
Bush says that the terrorists who murder the innocent in the streets of Baghdad want to murder the innocent in the streets of American cities. Fact or factoid? Were there terrorists in Iraq before (or even after) the invasion?
"Defeating this enemy in Iraq will make it less likely we will face this enemy here at home," he also says. Fact or factoid? Was there an Iraqi enemy massing to fight in the streets of American cities?
And victory in Iraq - that may be the mother of all factoids.
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