POLITICAL LINGUISTICS LESSON:
"WMDs" shift to "programs to create WMDs"

Bush used the term "program" in three consecutive sentences on the issue Monday. "Iraq had a weapons program," Bush told reporters. "Intelligence throughout the decade showed they had a weapons program. I am absolutely convinced, with time, we'll find out that they did have a weapons program."

And

Critics contend the word "program" is too imprecise to be meaningful. "It can mean anything," said Mel Goodman, a retired CIA analyst. "It can mean documents, anything; no matter how benign, they will find some various purpose for it."

A clear rhetorical strategy anticipating that no WMDs will be found in Iraq. Given the lousy state of US journalism, the ploy just may work.

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