Friday, August 22, 2008
"Real soon now"
Just the other day I highlighted the misleading character of the "as soon as" in this:
Iraqi and U.S. negotiators have completed a draft security agreement that would see American troops leave Iraqi cities as soon as June 30, Iraqi and American officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday.But believe it or not, it doesn't take a year to qualify as "soon." Just now I was doing something I generally try to avoid, which was watching "Hardball" with Chris Matthews. And what Matthews had to say was (close paraphrase): "Well, considering we'll be out of Iraq real soon now,..." And what was he referring to? Not the "June 30 of next year" to pull out combat troops, but "the end of 2011 for all troops to leave" (allegedly, I hasten to add).
Hey Chris (and anyone else who thinks the "end of 2011" is "real soon now" - please do us all a favor and volunteer for a three-year tour of duty in Iraq, so someone who doesn't want to be there can come home. And at the end of 2011, please come back and tell us about how "soon" that was.
