In March of 2003 the United States went to war against Iraq. The decision to go to war has been a divisive one with many arguments both for and against the war. Those that were for the war initially argued that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and posed an immediate threat to the United States. Those against argued we should not go to war without international approval and more evidence that Iraq did in fact have weapons of mass destruction. Nearly a year and over 500 American lives later no weapons have been found and the President is looking for a way to turn Iraq over to the Iraqis before the November election. I will be comparing and analyzing two different texts that deal with the situation in Iraq. Both of these texts were recently published in Newsweek magazine.

The first text is an editorial cartoon; the cartoon is set in space specifically on the moon. The earth is shown in the background and a little space creature is holding up a sign that says: “Greetings American Liberators” (Luckovich 27). This cartoon was inspired by the recent speech of President Bush making a manned mission to Mars a U.S. goal. It also spoofs Vice President Cheney’s idea that the troops invading Iraq would be greeted as liberators. During the initial days of the Iraq War the troops were greeted kindly, but that kindness quickly wore off and soldiers there are faced almost daily with bombings and ambushes. The cartoon seems to be saying maybe somewhere in space the Americans will be greeted more kindly.

The cartoon is engaged in argument in that it’s not trying to drive people to action, which would be difficult to do in a one-frame cartoon. Luckovich is wondering why America is viewed as liberators, is that the role we really want? The cartoon is seeking answers, but not in a straightforward way. The audience of the cartoon is readers of Newsweek magazine. This is important to realize in analyzing this argument, the author doesn’t need to spend much time explaining the background because it is assumed that readers of Newsweek are already familiar with the issues addressed in the cartoon.

Luckovich uses both appeals to emotion and character. In an appeal to emotion he’s using humor. When someone reads the cartoon they may laugh a little. The humor draws the reader into the cartoon, and since the argument isn’t very clear the reader may spend a little time thinking about what the cartoon means. After the reader spends a little time thinking about the cartoon it’s up to them to form their own conclusion about what argument is being made. The author is given credibility given the fact the cartoon is published in two respected news mediums. Newsweek and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution wouldn’t just publish some guy’s work if they didn’t know and respect him.

An editorial cartoon is usually allotted just a small space in any paper or magazine, so the writer must use their space wisely. Given a small area the writer must make his point with drawings and text. This cartoon with the little alien holding up his little sign makes the best use out of the little space provided. Editorial cartoonists are also given more leeway to be funny, not just serious.

The second text I used was an editorial by Fareed Zakaria titled “Bowing to the Mighty Ayatollah” which was also published in Newsweek. When the United States over threw the Iraqi government it established The Governing Council, which is a group of Iraqis that was picked by the U.S. to put an Iraqi face on the government. The U.S. has set a June deadline for turning power over to an Iraq government picked by a caucus. Zakaria contends that this plan is flawed because one of the leading clerics in Iraq, Ayatollah Sistani, doesn’t like the plan and wants full elections. Zakaria claims the United States has good reason to worry about Sistani because he holds enormous respect with the Iraqi Shiites. As Zakaria says, “The United States fears that he will brand them as colonialists and the new transition government as a puppet regime” (Zakaria, 38). As Zakaria says: “The occupation can survive an insurgency, but it cannot survive 10 countrywide protest marches with thousands chanting “Colonialists go home!” (Zakaria, 38). The U.S. is desperate to prevent this and have gone to the United Nations for help. The U.S. contends there isn’t enough time to set up nation wide elections, and they’re probably right. But the U.S. desperately needs the U.N. to say the same thing so Iraqis don’t think the U.S. is trying to run the country by proxy. Zakaria says the United Nations is the only entity that can arbitrate political problems without being accused of being a colonizer. (Zakaria 38)

Zakaria is engaged in argument in his editorial. He’s seeking a solution that everyone can live with, and his idea is that the United Nations must play a bigger role in Iraq. The U.S. occupation in Iraq hasn’t exactly gone as planned and now the U.S. is looking for a way to transfer power. Zakaria asks why the U.S. is worried about an aging cleric with no army and no formal authority. Zakaria says Sistani has legitimacy, which is something the U.S. lacks in Iraq. Zakaria contends that the only way out for the U.S. is to bring in the U.N. to avoid being labeled colonists.

Zakaria is using several appeals to his audience to get them to take his ideas seriously. Zakaria’s audience is readers of Newsweek, more specifically Americans. Knowing that the audience will be mainly American Zakaria is able to effectively use an appeal to values. When Zakaria says the U.S. is being close to branded as colonists that hits a certain chord with Americans. The United States started off as colonies of England, with that history in mind many Americans aren’t eager to be branded as colonists. Zakaria uses an appeal to reason when he says the U.N. should be brought in immediately to solve some of the problems in Iraq. Zakaria contends that the U.S. has no legitimacy in Iraq and needs international support. Zakaria says the U.S. plan for a phased approach actually makes sense, but without U.N. support it’ll just be seen as a way to push Washington’s agenda in the country. Iraqi’s will listen and understand if the U.N. comes in and says elections aren’t possible yet. The third appeal is to character; Zakaria appeals to character in two ways. First the article is published in Newsweek, which gives it credibility. Second Zakaria isn’t engaged in name calling or combative argument. It seems lately the country has become more polarized and editorials are becoming more angry and emotional, this only speaks to people who believe what you’re saying. If someone is against what you’re saying they’ll immediately stop reading. Zakaria’s style is more apt to hold readers attention through the whole article because people won’t be immediately turned off.

Both Luckovich’s cartoon and Zakaria’s editorial are using different appeals to get across the same message. Zakaria has the advantage of having more space and being able to use more words to make his points more clearly. Luckovich has to be more creative to get his points across, using images and subtle text to convey his idea. I believe both texts have similar messages about the situation in Iraq. Zakaria’s point is easy to see, there should be a greater international role in Iraq. Luckovich’s point is more open to interpretation, but I believe his point is we as Americans should be more careful when presenting ourselves as liberators.

Works Cited

Zakaria, Fareed.

“Bowing to the Mighty Ayatollah.” Editorial. Newsweek 26 Jan. 2004: 38.

Luckovich.

Cartoon. Newsweek 26 Jan. 2004: 27.

 

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