wausfpp.org

Bearden, November 4 2005

Text Source

Bearden, Milt (Op-Ed Contributor; former employee of the C.I.A.'s Directorate of Operations). "When the C.I.A. Played by the Rules" (Op-Ed). New York Times (www.nytimes.com. November 4 2005): http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/04/opinion/04bearden.html.

Message Unit 1 - an example of patriotized history

core myths:

benevolence myth

unpatriotized history:

Prior to G.W. Bush, the US often tortured people.

message (of patriotized history):

Prior to G.W. Bush, the US didn't usually torture people.

patriotic change (of history):

technique:

fact displacement

text:

[headline:] When the C.I.A. Played by the Rules

Message Unit 2 - an example of patriotized history

core myths:

benevolence myth

unpatriotized history:

America has a tradition of capturing, torturing, and killing the citizens of other countries all over the world.

message (of patriotized history):

America has a tradition of fundamental commitment to humanitarian treatment.

patriotic change (of history):

technique:

fact displacement

text:

our country's most fundamental commitments of humanitarian treatment have long been extended to the Afghan battlefield

Message Unit 3 - an example of patriotized morality

core position: pro-US

unpatriotized position:

Ordinarily, criticism of a criminal policy hinges on the harm to the victims, not the harm to the perpetrator.

message (of patriotized morality):

A policy of crimes against the citizens of other countries is bad if it's bad for America.

patriotic change (of morality)

technique

text:

A federal appeals court found that Mr. Hamdan, who was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and is being held at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, was not entitled to the protections of the Geneva Conventions; he has appealed to the high court.

If the court does not choose to review the appellate court's decision, and then overturn it, America's national security will be endangered.

Message Unit 4 - an example of patriotized history

core myths:

benevolence myth

unpatriotized history:

Prior to G.W. Bush, the US often tortured people.

message (of patriotized history):

Prior to G.W. Bush, the US didn't usually torture people.

patriotic change (of history):

technique:

fact displacement

text:

under the traditional rules of the Afghan conflict - that is, under international norms. A unilateral change in those rules dictated by America

Message Unit 5 - an example of patriotized history

core myths:

benevolence myth

unpatriotized history:

US troops in Iraq are fighting for the side that was doing terrorism in the other's country, against the side that was not.

Prior to 2003, the US was both attacking Iraq and supporting terrorists who were blowing things up and killing people in Iraq, while Iraq was not supporting terror in the US. Since 2003, the US has been committing widespread terror in Iraq, and Iraqis are still not committing terror in the US.

message (of patriotized history):

What the US troops are doing all over the world is a war against terrorism.

patriotic change (of history)

technique:

fact displacement

text:

our troops there and elsewhere in the struggle against terrorism

Message Unit 6 - an example of patriotized history

core myths:

benevolence myth

unpatriotized history:

Prior to G.W. Bush, the US often tortured people.

message (of patriotized history):

Prior to G.W. Bush, the US didn't usually torture people.

patriotic change (of history):

technique:

fact displacement

text:

The questions of applicability and enforcement of the Geneva Conventions posed by the Hamdan case should not go unanswered by the Supreme Court. We are a better nation than that.

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