Language Creep

As of late, the Bushies have been noticeably spinning virtually all military actions in Iraq as being against Al Qaeda and attributing most of the violence to Al Qaeda. The media has dutifully followed along uncritically reporting this spin.

Here's General Batiste on this language creep:

I also believe we cannot attribute all the violence in Iraq to al-Qaeda. There's a tendency now to lump it all together, and call it al-Qaeda. We have to be very careful with that. This is a very complex region. al-Qaeda is certainly a component. But there's larger components. al-Qaeda is a worldwide organization. It recognizes no national boundaries. And it's in areas where we ought to be focused.