WP2: Pre-Writing Assignment 2

On March 20th, 2003 President George W. Bush went on national television to address the nation. He told the American people that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction, capable of threatening the United States. He offered Saddam Hussein an ultimatum - step down or face war.

48 hours later, amid protests and anger from the international community, the United States invaded Iraq. They barely put up a fight. And a few weeks later on May 1st, 2003, President Bush announced the end of major combat operations in Iraq.

Six years, $700 billion and 4,000 American lives later, we are still engaged in major combat operations in Iraq. We never did find those "weapons of mass destruction". And most importantly, evidence has come to light suggesting that the Bush administration mislead the country in it's attempts to start a war with Iraq in the first place.

In 2002 many months before the war began, George Tenet of the CIA insisted there was no connection between al-Qaeda and Iraq. In response, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld initiated a secret program to re-examine the evidence, this time excluding the CIA and Tenet. This new and controversial information was not analyzed and instead presented directly to the public. Many believe this move was pushed for by Vice President Cheney.

A month later, Tenet once again briefed the Bush administration. He presented information suggesting that Iraq did NOT have weapons of mass destruction. This information was dismissed and never shared with Congress.

Than in September 2002, the Bush administration claimed to have evidence suggesting Iraq was making an effort to create nuclear bombs. This analysis was opposed by the US Department of Energy, who are considered experts in gas centrifuges and nuclear weapons programs.

An effort by the department to correct Colin Powell's forthecoming address to the United Nations on the issue was rebuffed. Powell later admitted he had presented inaccurate data to the UN, and that the intelligence he was relying on was in some cases "deliberately misleading."

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This information is eye opening and shocking to many. But let's be honest, people don't often connect well with raw information, complicated quotes and massive documents released years after an event took place. Sometimes you have to make things a little more simple to get through and make your point.

And that's what this cartoon is able to do. It translates that information to convey a message that might be considered inappropriate or unproffesional for a newspaper or newscast to report.

On that note, let's assume for a second that Dick Cheney was behind the Iraq War, and that he lead the country into this under false pretenses. And for fun, let's throw in the idea that President Bush is an incompetent puppet under the control of Dick Cheney. To many Americans, that probably seems direspectful and hard to believe. They were the President and Vice President after all.

And because of their former position, you probably won't hear statements like that from any conventional source of news.

But luckily for Oliphant, he is not restricted by the same rules and code of ethics that people in the journalism world are. He can be brutally honest and even interject his own opinion to make a point. It's one of the perks of being a cartoonist instead of a columnist.

And so, we see this cartoon openlyblaming Bush for bringing us into war with faulty intelligence. His quote makes him look irresponsible, immature and incapable of performing his job.

And then look at Dick Cheney. He looks angry, intimidating and shows no compassion for the result of his actions. And while viewers of this cartoon may or may not agree with the statement, they are thinking about it in the back of their minds. The idea that the Bush adminstration did not perform their jobs properly is being considered when anyone views this image.

Today things are better. We have a new administration. Security in Iraq has improved dramatically. And perhaps in the end, some good came out of this war. But we must never forget the lessons we learned in 2003. Trust our government, but use discretion and take everything with a grain of salt. Don't rush as a nation into important decisions with unknown repricussions.

And most importantly, remember the power we are granting a person or political party when we elect them into office.

And this cartoon does just that. It makes sure that we never forget the sacrifices made in the name of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

WP2: Pre-Writing Assignment 1

In 2003 the United States invaded Iraq in what was then called Operation Iraqi Freedom. Six years later, the new Iraq is still a dangerous place requiring the protection and assistance of American troops. In some ways the Iraq War was a success. The United States was able to remove one of the most evil and tyranical leaders in modern history in Saddam Hussein. Democracy though fragile has been planted in a Middle East nation. And since the invasion of Iraq, the United States has not been attacked by terrorists on American soil.

But there has been a price. Over 4,000 US troops have been killed in Iraq since the war began. And the fighting has bled American's of another $700 billion to support the effort. And what many people forget is why America went to war in Iraq in the first place. Or at least the reasoning at the time. To this day, we have not found a single weapon of mass destruction in Iraq. Yet that was the defining reason and propaganda used by the Bush administration in it's push for war.

This cartoon was created by world famous political cartoonist Pat Oliphant. Oliphant doesn't hide behind his work. He openly calls the Bush administration evil and questions the leadership they provided during the past eight years. But it doesn't take bold statements like that to understand what he is trying to say in this photograph.

The first thing I noticed when looking at this picture is Dick Cheney towering over this dead soldier. He looks angry, dominant and even evil as he towers over the scene. This contrasts the small, innocent cowboy dressed version of George Bush we see looking curiously at the man on the ground. Why is Cheney so much larger in this photograph than Bush? Why is Cheney dressed in a suit looking angry, while Bush is dressed informal cowboy style with a look of almost childlike innocence on his face?

These minor details that Oliphant works into the picture send a clear message. In his mind, Dick Cheney was the man responsible for what happened to this soldier. And while Bush is on his knees trying to comfort him, Cheney stares angrily from above into the man's eyes. This tells us that Bush, though uninformed and inept for the task at hand, feels bad about what has happened to the soldier. We see no such indications through body language or any form of communication from Dick Cheney.

But what really seals the message in this cartoon are the words spoken by Bush. "Would it make you feel better to know we had inaccurate intelligence?" Notice also the typography, and the lack of color, size, weight and shape in the words. Nothing is done to the text to make it stand out, or to draw attention.

I believe this was intentional. Oliphant wants the site of a dead soldier on the ground, surrounded by an incompetent President and his destructive Vice President to sink in. He wants us to notice these subtle but powerful messages, before we read the akward quote that pulls all of the details and elements together.

The argument could be made that this soldier died for nothing. Or at least not for the reasons that he thought. We started this war to defend America from terrorism. We were told that Iraq was a threat to our country and our way of life. But was that true? Is the world safer today because of what happened in Iraq? And more importantly, did the Bush administration take advantage of September 11th to accomplish a political agenda. It's an issue I aim to explore in this project, and a message I believe Oliphant was preaching loud and clear through this cartoon.