"A recent surge in violence" in Iraq.

This is the kind of thing that I often link to as brilliant blogging. (Although this isn't actually on a blog. Here's a blog link in case that one disappears.)

Somebody did a news search for the phrase, "a recent surge of violence" relating to Iraq, lists the replies with links, and points out that the "recent surge" has been more or less consistent since mid-2004.

If you're by here alot, you know I'm a bit of a nut about how language has been used to modify the impressions of Iraq both intentionally and through cultural assumption, from way back when the DoD took issue with the use of the word guerilla to describe the insurgents. In the interim, we've gone through the terms rejectionists, insurgents, Saddamists, dead-enders, and finally that infamously typical Rumsfeld moment when he referred to them as "Enemies of the Iraqi -- legitimate Iraqi government. How's that?"

All of those phrases have shades of meaning which color the assumptions, and just as I was going on about the differences between "Civil War" and "Sectarian Violence," referring to the current incidents as a "recent upsurge" carries with it an assumption that things were more peaceful previously. When in actuality, the "recent upsurges" have marked increasing rates of change along an upward sloping graph.

Enough. Sorry.