wausfpp.org

McCain, November 21 2005

Text Source

McCain, John (U.S. senator). "Torture's Terrible Toll." Newsweek (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032542/site/newsweek. November 21 2005): http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10019179/site/newsweek/.

Message Unit 1 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: benevolence myth				unpatriotized history: The US has tortured lots of people all over the world for many decades.
message (of patriotized history): The US didn't torture before now, and habitually doesn't torture.		patriotic change (of history): typical as anomaly
technique
text: undermine the values we hold dear

Message Unit 2 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: The US conquest of Iraq has nothing to do with any US war against an Islamic terrorist organization. The US conquest of Iraq is about taking over Iraq, and is not defensive. Nor is the US conquest of Iraq part of a US opposition to terror as a technique, because the US is not opposed to terror as a technique, and uses terror itself, extensively. Iraq was not supporting terror against the US prior to the US conquest of Iraq, but the US was supporting terror in Iraq. Since then, Iraq and the Iraqis have still not supported terror in the US, while the US project in Iraq has gone from being a war of aggression (at the outset), to being an act of terrorism, as the US project now consists of using military force to kill Iraqi citizens (who have no military) for fighting against US rule of their country.
message (of patriotized history): Current US military actions, including the one in Iraq, are part of a defensive war that the US is waging against an Islamic terrorist organization.		patriotic change (of history): identity shift
technique
text: the administration's intentions and motives ... their determination to prevent terrorists from inflicting another atrocity on the American people

Message Unit 3 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: The US is fighting against citizens of Iraq, a country that it conquered; neither they nor Iraq's government were doing anything to the US. The US is doing conquest, not defense, in Iraq.
message (of patriotized history): The US is fighting against someone who is trying to or did try to attack or harm the US or Americans in some way.		patriotic change (of history): attack-response reversal
technique
text: sworn to protect

Message Unit 4 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: benevolence myth				unpatriotized history: The US has tortured lots of people all over the world for many decades.
message (of patriotized history): The US didn't torture before now, and habitually doesn't torture.		patriotic change (of history): typical as anomaly
technique
text: might offend American values

Message Unit 5 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: If citizens of a country attack US soldiers who are in that country, it is the US soldiers who are commiting an act of aggression, not the citizens of the country they are in.
message (of patriotized history): If citizens of a country attack US soldiers who are in that country, it is the citizens of that country who are commiting an act of aggression, just as if they were attacking US citizens in the US. Thus the US government is the natural owner of any country that it decides to occupy.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: prevent attacks on our soldiers or our allies or on the American people.

Message Unit 6 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: The US is fighting against citizens of Iraq, a country that it conquered; neither they nor Iraq's government were doing anything to the US. The US is doing conquest, not defense, in Iraq.
message (of patriotized history): The US is fighting against someone who is trying to or did try to attack or harm the US or Americans in some way.		patriotic change (of history): attack-response reversal
technique
text: It is also quite fair to attribute the administration's position ... to the president's and vice president's appropriate concern for acquiring actionable intelligence that could prevent attacks

Message Unit 7 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: The US is fighting against citizens of Iraq, a country that it conquered; neither they nor Iraq's government were doing anything to the US. The US is doing conquest, not defense, in Iraq.
message (of patriotized history): The US is fighting against someone who is trying to or did try to attack or harm the US or Americans in some way.		patriotic change (of history): attack-response reversal
technique
text: security of American lives

Message Unit 8 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: The US conquest of Iraq has nothing to do with any US war against an Islamic terrorist organization. The US conquest of Iraq is about taking over Iraq, and is not defensive. Nor is the US conquest of Iraq part of a US opposition to terror as a technique, because the US is not opposed to terror as a technique, and uses terror itself, extensively. Iraq was not supporting terror against the US prior to the US conquest of Iraq, but the US was supporting terror in Iraq. Since then, Iraq and the Iraqis have still not supported terror in the US, while the US project in Iraq has gone from being a war of aggression (at the outset), to being an act of terrorism, as the US project now consists of using military force to kill Iraqi citizens (who have no military) for fighting against US rule of their country.
message (of patriotized history): Current US military actions, including the one in Iraq, are part of a defensive war that the US is waging against an Islamic terrorist organization.		patriotic change (of history): identity shift
technique
text: this war

Message Unit 9 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: The US conquest of Iraq has nothing to do with any US war against an Islamic terrorist organization. The US conquest of Iraq is about taking over Iraq, and is not defensive. Nor is the US conquest of Iraq part of a US opposition to terror as a technique, because the US is not opposed to terror as a technique, and uses terror itself, extensively. Iraq was not supporting terror against the US prior to the US conquest of Iraq, but the US was supporting terror in Iraq. Since then, Iraq and the Iraqis have still not supported terror in the US, while the US project in Iraq has gone from being a war of aggression (at the outset), to being an act of terrorism, as the US project now consists of using military force to kill Iraqi citizens (who have no military) for fighting against US rule of their country.
message (of patriotized history): Current US military actions, including the one in Iraq, are part of a defensive war that the US is waging against an Islamic terrorist organization.		patriotic change (of history): identity shift
technique
text: in conflict with the unyielding inhumanity of our vicious enemy

Message Unit 10 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: Many people that the US captures are captured because the US suspects them of opposing US conquest of their country, not because the US suspects them of terrorism.
message (of patriotized history): When the US captures people, it does so because it suspects them of terrorism.		patriotic change (of history): identity shift
technique
text: should not torture or treat inhumanely terrorists we have captured. The abuse of prisoners harms, not helps, our war effort.

Message Unit 11 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: The US conquest of Iraq has nothing to do with any US war against an Islamic terrorist organization. The US conquest of Iraq is about taking over Iraq, and is not defensive. Nor is the US conquest of Iraq part of a US opposition to terror as a technique, because the US is not opposed to terror as a technique, and uses terror itself, extensively. Iraq was not supporting terror against the US prior to the US conquest of Iraq, but the US was supporting terror in Iraq. Since then, Iraq and the Iraqis have still not supported terror in the US, while the US project in Iraq has gone from being a war of aggression (at the outset), to being an act of terrorism, as the US project now consists of using military force to kill Iraqi citizens (who have no military) for fighting against US rule of their country.
message (of patriotized history): Current US military actions, including the one in Iraq, are part of a defensive war that the US is waging against an Islamic terrorist organization		patriotic change (of history): identity shift
technique
text: should not torture or treat inhumanely terrorists we have captured. The abuse of prisoners harms, not helps, our war effort.

Message Unit 12 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: The US conquest of Iraq has nothing to do with any US war against an Islamic terrorist organization. The US conquest of Iraq is about taking over Iraq, and is not defensive. Nor is the US conquest of Iraq part of a US opposition to terror as a technique, because the US is not opposed to terror as a technique, and uses terror itself, extensively. Iraq was not supporting terror against the US prior to the US conquest of Iraq, but the US was supporting terror in Iraq. Since then, Iraq and the Iraqis have still not supported terror in the US, while the US project in Iraq has gone from being a war of aggression (at the outset), to being an act of terrorism, as the US project now consists of using military force to kill Iraqi citizens (who have no military) for fighting against US rule of their country.
message (of patriotized history): Current US military actions, including the one in Iraq, are part of a defensive war that the US is waging against an Islamic terrorist organization.		patriotic change (of history): identity shift
technique
text: While some enemies, and Al Qaeda surely, will never be bound by the principle of reciprocity, we should have concern for those Americans captured by more traditional enemies, if not in this war then in the next.

Message Unit 13 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: benevolence myth				unpatriotized history: The US has tortured lots of people all over the world for many decades.
message (of patriotized history): The US didn't torture before now, and habitually doesn't torture.		patriotic change (of history): typical as anomaly
technique
text: we should not undermine today our defense of international prohibitions against torture

Message Unit 14 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: The US conquest of Iraq has nothing to do with any US war against an Islamic terrorist organization. The US conquest of Iraq is about taking over Iraq, and is not defensive. Nor is the US conquest of Iraq part of a US opposition to terror as a technique, because the US is not opposed to terror as a technique, and uses terror itself, extensively. Iraq was not supporting terror against the US prior to the US conquest of Iraq, but the US was supporting terror in Iraq. Since then, Iraq and the Iraqis have still not supported terror in the US, while the US project in Iraq has gone from being a war of aggression (at the outset), to being an act of terrorism, as the US project now consists of using military force to kill Iraqi citizens (who have no military) for fighting against US rule of their country.
message (of patriotized history): Current US military actions, including the one in Iraq, are part of a defensive war that the US is waging against an Islamic terrorist organization.		patriotic change (of history): identity shift
technique
text: Al Qaeda ... But I doubt they will be the last enemy America will fight

Message Unit 15 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: The US conquest of Iraq has nothing to do with any US war against an Islamic terrorist organization. The US conquest of Iraq is about taking over Iraq, and is not defensive. Nor is the US conquest of Iraq part of a US opposition to terror as a technique, because the US is not opposed to terror as a technique, and uses terror itself, extensively. Iraq was not supporting terror against the US prior to the US conquest of Iraq, but the US was supporting terror in Iraq. Since then, Iraq and the Iraqis have still not supported terror in the US, while the US project in Iraq has gone from being a war of aggression (at the outset), to being an act of terrorism, as the US project now consists of using military force to kill Iraqi citizens (who have no military) for fighting against US rule of their country.
message (of patriotized history): Current US military actions, including the one in Iraq, are part of a defensive war that the US is waging against an Islamic terrorist organization.		patriotic change (of history): identity shift
technique
text: in this war

Message Unit 16 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: freedom-pushing myth				unpatriotized history: The US is fighting to preserve its own tyranny over the citizens of Iraq.
message (of patriotized history): The US is fighting for freedom.		patriotic change (of history): mastery/sovereignty shift
technique
text: a struggle to advance freedom in the face of terror in places where oppressive rule has bred the malevolence that creates terrorists

Message Unit 17 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: benevolence myth self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: In Iraq, the point of the US action is not to oppose terrorism as a technique. 1. Before 2003, the US was supporting terror in Iraq and Iraq wasn't supporting terror in the US. 2. Since 2003, the US has been doing terror in Iraq and Iraq hasn't been doing terror in the US. 3. The US conquest of Iraq is about taking over Iraq, not about fighting terror. 4. The criterion for having the members of your organization hunted down and killed in Iraq is whether you oppose the US conquest, not whether you are a terrorist. The first top employee of the US in Iraq, Allawi, was a terrorist who had worked for the US doing terrorism in Iraq prior to the US takeover, and of course the US military is carrying out extensive terror campaigns in an attempt to force the Iraqi citizens to submit to the Americans and the Iraqis who work for them.
message (of patriotized history): In Iraq, the point of the US action is to oppose terrorism as a technique.		patriotic change (of history): act removal (US)
technique
text: a struggle to advance freedom in the face of terror in places where oppressive rule has bred the malevolence that creates terrorists

Message Unit 18 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: benevolence myth				unpatriotized history: In some places, like Iraq and Afghanistan, some substate terrorist groups were nurtured by money that the US gave them.
message (of patriotized history): Terrorists are nurtured by malevolence that arises as a reaction to oppressive rule.		patriotic change (of history): act removal (US)
technique
text: a struggle to advance freedom in the face of terror in places where oppressive rule has bred the malevolence that creates terrorists

Message Unit 19 - an example of patriotized history

core myths: benevolence myth self-defense/nonaggression myth				unpatriotized history: Other than the torture issue, the US has invaded someone else's country and established itself as dictator there. It has already killed many tens of thousands of the citizens and imprisoned tens of thousands more, targeting all who fought against US rule of their country, and these acts are ongoing. The US has decided that the US will be the one to decide who lives and dies in Iraq, despite the fact that it cannot be unelected by those over whom it exercises this power. Finally, the US is establishing its own dominance over the Iraqis for the future, with US plans for a US-led "Iraqi military," whose job will be to kill Iraqis for the US, not to defend Iraq from foreign countries. This force will be backed by US aircraft flown by US pilots, some of whom will actually be flying remotely from Nevada. These US-controlled aircraft will be equipped with high-tech devices for spying on and killing the Iraqi citizens. This project is already underway.
message (of patriotized history): Other than the torture issue, US actions toward Iraq have been exemplary.		patriotic change (of history): act removal (US)
technique
text: they threaten our moral standing

Message Unit 20 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history:
message (of patriotized history): In this case, on nontorture topics, US behavior has been wonderful, certainly better than that of its enemies		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: expose us to false but widely disseminated charges that democracies are no more inherently idealistic and moral than other regimes

Message Unit 21 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history: The US conquest of Iraq has nothing to do with any US war against an Islamic terrorist organization. The US conquest of Iraq is about taking over Iraq, and is not defensive. Nor is the US conquest of Iraq part of a US opposition to terror as a technique, because the US is not opposed to terror as a technique, and uses terror itself, extensively. Iraq was not supporting terror against the US prior to the US conquest of Iraq, but the US was supporting terror in Iraq. Since then, Iraq and the Iraqis have still not supported terror in the US, while the US project in Iraq has gone from being a war of aggression (at the outset), to being an act of terrorism, as the US project now consists of using military force to kill Iraqi citizens (who have no military) for fighting against US rule of their country.
message (of patriotized history): Current US military actions, including the one in Iraq, are part of a defensive war that the US is waging against an Islamic terrorist organization.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: This is an existential fight, to be sure. If they could, Islamic extremists

Message Unit 22 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history: Both prior to 2003 and since, the US supported and committed terror in Iraq.
message (of patriotized history): The US doesn't do terror or support terror.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: who resort to terror

Message Unit 23 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history: The US is fighting against citizens of Iraq, a country that it conquered; neither they nor Iraq's government were doing anything to the US. The US is doing conquest, not defense, in Iraq.
message (of patriotized history): The US is fighting against someone who is trying to or did try to attack or harm the US or Americans in some way.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: would destroy us utterly

Message Unit 24 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history:
message (of patriotized history): In this case, on nontorture topics, US behavior has been wonderful, certainly better than that of its enemies		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: American political values

Message Unit 25 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history: Iraq was a tasty treat for the US; adding it to the long list of US-dominated nonsovereign states fit perfectly with US objectives.
message (of patriotized history): The US didn't want to conquer Iraq; it was a painful duty.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: an awful business

Message Unit 26 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history: The US is fighting for control of someone else's country.
message (of patriotized history): The US is fighting for a noble cause.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: no matter how noble the cause for which it is fought

Message Unit 27 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history: Both prior to 2003 and since, the US supported and committed terror in Iraq.
message (of patriotized history): The US doesn't do terror or support terror.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: I don't mourn the loss of any terrorist's life.

Message Unit 28 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history: The US and its troops have pledged themselves to the intentional destruction of innocent lives. The US is in Iraq trying to kill Iraqis who are in Iraq. All of the people, including fighters, that the US is trying to kill in Iraq are innocent. The US is targeting Iraqis for resisting the US conquest of Iraq; it is not targeting them for committing a crime, but for opposing a crime.
message (of patriotized history): The US and its troops haven't pledged themselves to the intentional destruction of innocent lives.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: They have pledged their lives to the intentional destruction of innocent lives

Message Unit 29 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history:
message (of patriotized history): In this case, on nontorture topics, US behavior has been wonderful, certainly better than that of its enemies		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: our greatest strength--that we are different and better than our enemies

Message Unit 30 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history: The US has tortured lots of people all over the world for many decades.
message (of patriotized history): The US didn't torture before now, and habitually doesn't torture.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: our greatest strength--that we are different and better than our enemies

Message Unit 31 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history: The US is violating the rights of the citizens of other countries (to death) on a routine basis.
message (of patriotized history): The US is fighting for the rights of the individual.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: we fight for an idea ... that all men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights

Message Unit 32 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history: The US has tortured lots of people all over the world for many decades.
message (of patriotized history): The US didn't torture before now, and habitually doesn't torture.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: our liberal notions

Message Unit 33 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history:
message (of patriotized history): Habitually, the US behaves better than its enemies.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: our liberal notions

Message Unit 34 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history: Ordinarily, we would say a person of good will must unpatriotically oppose their own country when it harms the people of other countries in order to take what is theirs.
message (of patriotized history): Americans of good will are patriots.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: Americans of good will, all patriots

Message Unit 35 - an example of patriotized history

core myths				unpatriotized history: The US conquest of Iraq has nothing to do with any US war against an Islamic terrorist organization. The US conquest of Iraq is about taking over Iraq, and is not defensive. Nor is the US conquest of Iraq part of a US opposition to terror as a technique, because the US is not opposed to terror as a technique, and uses terror itself, extensively. Iraq was not supporting terror against the US prior to the US conquest of Iraq, but the US was supporting terror in Iraq. Since then, Iraq and the Iraqis have still not supported terror in the US, while the US project in Iraq has gone from being a war of aggression (at the outset), to being an act of terrorism, as the US project now consists of using military force to kill Iraqi citizens (who have no military) for fighting against US rule of their country.
message (of patriotized history): Current US military actions, including the one in Iraq, are part of a defensive war that the US is waging against an Islamic terrorist organization.		patriotic change (of history)
technique
text: argue about what is appropriate and necessary to combat this unconventional enemy