When you are Jennifer Loven of the Associated Press. George W. Bush yesterday went out of his way yesterday to emphasize his preference for a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis. But in this hilarious dispatch Loven explains that when Bush says “diplomacy” he’s using code words for military action.
“Within the coded language of the U.S. attitude toward Iran, several small changes in Bush’s rhetoric Wednesday added up to a difference. Three times, he called a diplomatic solution ‘my first choice,’ implying there are others. He said ‘we’ll give diplomacy a chance to work,’ meaning it might not. He also offered, without even being asked a question about Iran, that ‘all options are on the table’ — a longtime standard refrain, not heard as much lately, that neither confirms nor denies an intention to use military force.”
Remind me again why Americans don’t trust journalists. The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel‘s Patrick McIlheran (a conservative on the paper’s editorial board) treats us to some appropriate mocking here. Money quote:
So, the guy says diplomacy is his first choice. How sinister. He wants to give diplomats time to work, the warmonger. He says all options are on the table, and isn’t that closed-minded?
Maybe if Bush declares his intention to take out Iran’s nuclear facilities Loven will explain that he’s ready to talk. Nah.
