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THE SENTENCE AFTER "USA TODAY" REALLY BEGINS THE ESSAY WITH A FINE SUMMARY THESIS, OPPOSING "POLITICS" ("POLITICS ASIDE") TO "CRUCIAL" QUESTIONS, WHICH ARE THEN ASKED IN THE ESSAY. NOTICE HOW TWO LONG SENTENCES ARE EMBEDDED INTO ONE. "WE SHOULD PUT POLITICS ASIDE" BECOMES EMBEDDED AS A SIMPLE TWO-WORD CLAUSE, "POLITICS ASIDE." AN ADJECTIVE/NOUN EMBEDS TWO SENTENCES VERY SIMPLY: "IT RAISES QUESTIONS. THESE QUESTIONS ARE CRUCIAL."
In the six days since Iraq U.S. weapons inspector David Kay released his report to Congress, the partisan storm it ignited boils down to a classic case of perspective. Was the weaponstally Kay released after scouring Iraq for more than three months half full or half empty of dangerous findings?
NOTICE ABOVE HOW SYNONYMS AND REPEAT NOUNS ("FINDINGS" "WEAPONS") HELP COHERENCE. COHERENCE IS ALSO HELPED BY PRONOUN REPLACEMENT (HIS, IT). THIS TACTIC OF REPLACEMENT AND REPEATING OCCURS EVEN MORE IN THE PARAGRAPH BELOW:
While his Iraq Survey GroupTeam has yet to find any banned weapons, Kay detailed some tantalizing leads. Among them: a secret network of labs, a sample of a deadly biological agent hidden in a scientist's home and plans for developing banned long-range missiles. Kay said he would need at least six more months to follow up thosefinds.
ABOVE, NOTICE THAT EVEN THE FORM OF THE WORD (FINDINGS) IS REPLACED BY ANOTHER, VERBAL, FORM (FIND). REPLACEMENT CONTINUES WITH SYNONYMS SUCH AS 'LEADS,' 'LABS' (DIVING WEAPONS UP INTO KINDS), MISSILES, ETC.
Half-full types Optimists led by President Bush insist the report justifies the weapons threat that he cited to launch the Iraq war and the $600 million he wants to complete a search.
ABOVE, A CAUSE-EFFECT DEVICE IS USED, EXPLAINING WHY. ALSO TWO PARTIES ARE OPPOSED, ANOTHER DEVICE OF RHETORIC (OPTIMISTS-PESSIMISTS) BELOW, "WEAPONS" IS RED-CODED IN ITS DIFFERENT SYNONYMIC FORMS. BLUE CODES THE OPPOSED DEVICE WITH "OPTIMISTS" (ABOVE). PRETENCES/CHARADE ARE COLOR-CODED GRAY TO SHOW THEIR SIMILAR MEANING.
The half-empty school Pessimists seize the failure to uncover any actual weapons of mass destruction as evidence that the war was fought under false pretences. Giving Kay more time and money, they argue, merely would support an elaborate charade to cover up the truth.
'BOTH' IS ANOTHER PRONOUN REPLACEMENT THAT HERE LINKS WITH PARAGRAPHS BEFORE; WHILE "FACT" LINKS WITH "POINT" AND "JOB" AND OTHER WORDS COLOR-CODED.
Both miss the point. The simple fact is the job is half done. Kay's difficult detective work needs to be finished for pragmatic not political reasons. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein never accounted for thousands of tons of banned weapons ordered destroyed by the United Nations after the 1991 Gulf War. In the months leading up to the new war, U.S. intelligence provided compelling evidence that Iraq still possessed them.
Pinning down the size of Iraq's arsenal is critical to keeping remaining weapons away from terrorists and to judging the quality of U.S. intelligence. The job will take more time and money. It also requires treating the search as an important component in the war on terror, not a way to cover political tracks or launch partisan attacks.
A SIMPLE RHETORICAL PARAGRAPH FOLLOWS, DIVIDING THE TOPIC INTO QUESTIONS: NOTE HOW WELL THE PARAGRAPH COHERES, AS SHOWN BY COLOR-CODED WORDS: ALL THESE WORDS, INCLUDING ONE PRONOUN (THEY) REFER TO A SINGLE IDEA, WEAPONS. "REPORTS" OF COURSE IS NORMALLY NOT A SYNONYM FOR "WEAPONS"; BUT HERE "REPORTS" IS MODIFIED BY A RESTRICTIVE PRONOUN CLAUSE ('THAT WEAPONS'). SAME WITH "EVIDENCE," WHICH REALLY MEANS "EVIDENCE OF WEAPONS." THE REST OF THE ESSAY IS COLOR CODED FOR OBVIOUS REASONS:
Among the questions that need answers:
What happened to Saddam's weapons stash? On the eve of the war, U.N. inspectors said Iraq still hadn't proved itself free of previously declared banned weapons. They included 1,000 tons of chemical agents, 1.5 tons of VX gas, 7,000 liters of botulinum toxin and 8,000 liters of anthrax. Finding out whether they were destroyed, hidden or smuggled out of the country is essential to security in Iraq and the world. Kay is investigating reports that weapons or evidenceslipped into Jordan and Syria.
How good was U.S. pre-war intelligence? Last February, Secretary of State Colin Powel presented the U.N. with detailed U.S. intelligence pointing to secret weapons programs in Iraq. The evidence included intercepts of military officials' conversations and messages, satellite photos of activity at weaponssites and diagrams of suspected mobile research labs. Determining the accuracy of those assessments can highlight holes in U.S. intelligence-gathering.
Critics of continued searches say Kay's report already proves that Iraq was not the imminent threat Bush claimed to justify an invasion. If weapons existed, they would have been found by now, the critics say.
But the inspectors' work is turning out to be tougher than Kay imagined a few months ago, when he predicted he'd complete his search swiftly. Among the tasks: scouring 130 vast conventional weapons' sites where Iraqi scientists said banned weapons were often concealed unmarked. Adding to the task, some Iraqi scientists with valuable information still face intimidation. Two were shot, one fatally, by unknown assailants after talking to the inspectors.
At this stage, Kay's weapons search is neither half full nor half empty of conclusive discoveries. Until he finishes, pressing questions about security risks and intelligence failings remain half answered.
For next week's class, practice using all the italicized words in sentences or explain what they mean. You may have to inquire more closely into the phrases, "half-full" and "half-empty" for their full meanings. Also, complete your text assignments, including the two letters and Chapter Two of your book. Finally, COPY the following, filling in the blanks with words or a form of a word from the above essay's words in italics. Then email me your homework (only the five sentences below).
1. The fortune teller _____________ she would marry next year.
2. He was a very _________ person and tried to make friends with as many of his co-workers as possible.
3. Jack had a lot of courage and was not easily ____________.
4. Because of unemployment, Sally was very __________ about her future.
5. Nancy felt that John's behavior was only a ___________ to hide the truth from her.
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