Ritu and Nick make similar points which I will respond to here.....
At 12:29 PM 7/25/2003 +0000 Robert J. Chassell wrote:
> Robert J. Chassell wrote:
>
> >The phrase "The British have learned...." suggests to a listening
> >public that the US President had US intelligence agencies
> >investigate the matter.
>
> "John D. Giorgis" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> responded
>
> It does not suggest this to me. Indeed the mere fact that British
> intelligence is being mentioned in the State of the Union suggests
> exactly the opposite to me.
>
>Interesting. Your ideolect is certainly different from mine and from
>people with whom I have talked over the past half century.
I find this astounding, and can't help but wonder if you aren't letting
your political bias and your various subtle biases towards my opinions to
color your perception of language.
> If your criticism is that Bush said "learned" instead of "informed
> us that they believe", then who is being pedantic and mincing
> words here?
>
>No, I am not saying that. I am saying that Americans I know think
>that the phrase `James learned' meansthat `James learned correctly'
>unless the phrase is otherwise qualified, as in a joke. They do not
>think the phrase means `James learned incorrectly'.
>
>I am being anything but pedantic and mincing; rather I am talking of
>how the vast majority of Americans speak and understand.
Let's see, not one Brin-L'er responded to this the first time around.....
let's see if at the very least one of you three can give it a try this time
around;
QUESTION 1) The British inform us that they have learned that Iraq has
recently tried to acquire significant quantities of intelligence in Africa.
The Bush Administration naturally tries to verify this claim, but cannot
do so. They tell the British that we can't verify their claim. The
British respond that they cannot reveal their intelligence sources on this,
but they assure us that the intelligence is of the highest quality.
At this point, do you;
a) Call the British liars since our intelligece services have such strong
reservations about it?
b) Call the British incompetent for giving us intelligence that our own
intelligence services has not verified, and indeed has strong doubts about?
c) Ignore the British intelligence as questionable?
d) Accept that the British intelligence services may have access to sources
our own do not, particularly in Africa, and that the British intelligence
services are generally considered among the best and most reliable in the
world, and BELIEVE the British intelligence report?
Your choice. What do you do?
I look forward to your, Nick's, and Ritu's answers to this question.
JDG
_______________________________________________________
John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"The liberty we prize is not America's gift to the world,
it is God's gift to humanity." - George W. Bush 1/29/03
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