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Language of War  February 21, 2012, 8:14 AM  ‘Headline thinking’
-- which last week I defined as the natural human tendency to
"equate the actions of a certain person (or certain specific
people) with the actions of a generic ‘label,’ such as the name
of a country” -- underlies the language of war. This is a timely
matter to address, considering that certain members of the
media, such as CNN’s Erin Burnett, have been airing stories with
headlines such as “Is Iran Planning an Attack on America?” In
addition, a recent Gallup poll with the headline “Americans
Still Rate Iran Top U.S. Enemy” shows that 37% of 1,029 adults
living in the U.S. feel that “Iran” is the “one country anywhere
in the world” that is the “United States’ greatest enemy today.”
The Language of War  When I read the word “Iran” in a headline
such as “Is Ira