Bush’s pronouncement that the “war on terror” is now to be named World War III is a fairly big deal because it at least implies some similarity with prior World Wars that involved nation states, not just terrorist groups that are located throughout the world. Moreover, the phrase “World War III” has been a “metaphor for doomsday.” So, it would seem a simple proposition that Bush should be able to correctly cite the proper attribution or source for the idea of renaming the “war on terror” as World War III. However, it appears that Bush lied when he provided attribution to a 9/11 family hero rather than terror mastermind Osama bin Laden.
On May 6, 2006, it was reported that Bush stated that the Flight 93 passenger revolt against the hijackers was the “first counter-attack to World War III.” Bush stated that he was agreeing with the description in an April 2006 commentary by David Beamer, father of Todd Beamer who died in the crash, that the passenger revolt was “our first successful counter-attack in our homeland in this new global war, World War III.”
As usual, Bush chose his words carefully to avoid an express lie, but the implied lie is clear. Bush only expressly stated that he agreed with the description by a father of a 9/11 hero. But, by referencing the father’s statement, many people may have assumed that Bush got the idea for renaming the “war on terror” as WWIII from the father of a 9/11 hero. This is important because 9/11 is imbued with patriotic spirit. And, Todd Beamer is famous for uttering the words that triggered the passenger revolt on Flight 93: “Are you guys ready? Let’s roll.”
However, this is not the first time that Bush made reference to the “war on terror” as WWIII. On June 28, 2005, almost a year before any attribution could be provided to a 9/11 hero, Bush made a prime-time speech to urge Americans to continue his course in the Iraq war. As Dan Froomkin reported, while Bush did not offer any evidence to support his case, he did make a “bold rhetorical shift” by arguing that Iraq is now “ground zero for World War III, the battle against terror that began on Sept. 11, 2001.” In fact, Bush quoted bin Laden to support this new US war: “Hear the words of Osama bin Laden. ‘This Third World War is raging’ in Iraq.”
Apparently, in 2005 when Bush made his prime-time address to gain public support for the war, the White House was so desperate to find some analogy that would garner public support. Prior comparisons to World War II didn’t work. Just 3 years earlier, then White House press secretary Ari Fleischer expressly refused in 2002 to call the “hunt for Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda group and its followers `World War III.'” Looks like the continual decline of public support for the war had reached such a critical mass for the White House that in 2005 it was deemed acceptable to quote bin Laden as evidence to support Bush’s case that Iraq was such a serious threat as to be called ground zero for World War III.
Bush’s World War III reference didn’t catch on with the public in 2005, and it may not become accepted as the new phrase to replace the “war on terror” in 2006. But, just in case the Bush team would like to make it their new mantra for the upcoming midterm elections to cast the twin magic spell of fear and patriotism that has been Bush’s strategy to prevail, it is important that we set the record straight.
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