2003-03-18|1:06 p.m.
As the 48 hour deadline approaches for Operation Liberty Shield (we�ve stopped calling them wars, not just because they�re not approved by congress anymore, but because operation sounds cleaner and more necessary), the doublespeak revs into full force�
'Inevitable revenge' � for the executions of Saddam's Baath party officials which no one actually said were inevitable.
'Stubborn' or 'suicidal' � to be used when Iraqi forces fight rather than retreat.
'Allegedly' � for all carnage caused by Western forces.
'At last, the damning evidence' � used when reporters enter old torture chambers.
'Officials here are not giving us much access' � a clear sign that reporters in Baghdad are confined to their hotels.
'Life goes on' � for any pictures of Iraq's poor making tea.
'Remnants' � allegedly 'diehard' Iraqi troops still shooting at the Americans but actually the first signs of a resistance movement dedicated to the 'liberation' of Iraq from its new western occupiers.
'Newly liberated' � for territory and cities newly occupied by the Americans or British.
'What went wrong?' � to accompany pictures illustrating the growing anarchy in Iraq as if it were not predicted.