Many political figures have published opinion articles that claim the war in Iraq has had disastrous effects on the economy, perhaps even foreshadowing our current economic crisis. Although these political pieces may contribute the same opinion of the war in Iraq, there is great variation in the tactics that each author uses to reach the reader. By using effective style a writer can choose how they want the audience to react to their piece. These political opinion columnists have the ability to persuade their audience with straight facts or jar their reader’s senses with blunt, opinionated warfare.
A recent opinion article, “Iraq War a Contributing Factor in Economic Crisis” [1], written by Carol Jensen of the Desert Dispatch, displays fact-based attempt at persuading the reader. By mentioning historical precedents, Jensen promises us in the introduction that she is going to talk about how bad this economy has become and why it is the President’s fault that it has developed this way. Although we are not promised any links Iraq in the first paragraph, Jensen nails her thesis in the second paragraph, stating “we as taxpayers are spending on an endless basis for the debacle in Iraq, which is ultimately the root cause of our economic woes.” The clear purpose of this article is to persuade the reader through academic facts as opposed to provoking emotions. Several leading economists are mentioned such as Joseph Stiglitz who is quoted saying, “The Iraq War has cost the U.S. 50-60 times more than the Bush Administration predicted…” Here, Jensen displays the follies of the current administration and attempts to gain the reader’s trust through experts’ opinions. Throughout most of the article Jensen uses both a passive academic tone that intellectually dismantles the Bush Administration with such phrases as “I believe that our current president, George W. Bush deserves credit for the financial turmoil that our nation is struggling with today.” However near the conclusion, Jensen introduces a more emotional call to arms for Americans. She instantly descends into expressive support for Senator Barack Obama, demanding “The American people should no longer be forced to pay for the greatest foreign policy blunder in a generation. Enough is enough!”
However, unlike Carol Jensen, Stephen Goldstein of the Sun Sentinel chooses to ride out with his guns blazing against the Iraq War. The article, “Blame this Economic Mess on Bush’s War in Iraq”[2] takes a far more zealous tone than the previous opinion piece. The title of this piece alone suggests that some major party-bashing will ensue and Goldstein is certain to fulfill this promise. The tone of the first words of the article is almost fanatical, testifying that “Most Americans, especially Floridians, are neuron-challenged… unless we shake ourselves out of our coma, we'll dig our own graves”. Goldstein, amidst his fiery rant, takes his time to make his point, as he plays with his phrases like: “[The media’s focus on] our current debacle typically puts the emPHASis on the wrong sylLABle.” Goldstein delays the actual thesis of the article until the very middle of the piece where he states “The mortgage crisis is a symptom, not a primary cause of our problem. It's Iraq.” The article’s purpose here is to use emotion to persuade the reader rather than statistics. Goldstein uses a very charismatic style in order to engage the reader’s attention even while amidst a serious plea for the reader’s vote. The spirited warfare even to the end of the article where he ensures the reader that Obama is the candidate that they want to vote for. Goldstein lumps McCain and the Bush administration together and concludes: “If Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld-McCain wins the White House, you'll suffer more of the same economic pain”.
Although these various styles of writing are supporting almost the same ideas, the way that each of them chooses to maintain their discussion is extremely different. The writing style also greatly effects how a reader can interpret the message that each of these pieces conveyed about the War in Iraq. Whereas Jensen provoked a more intellectual conversation, Goldstein clearly hits emotional targets with his zealous tone. These pieces exemplify the power that a unique and effective style can infuse strength into an argument and display powerful opinions on very significant issues.
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