last night i got an email from chris letting me know about the latest from the remedial reading side of the blogisphere.
so i got all hepped up to write a scathing powertool lashing. some things, admittedly, are a little nit-picky; like how the word "fedayeen" is already plural, one "fedaa'yii" a bunch of "fedayeen." so saying "fedayeens" is like saying "carses" for a bunch of automobiles.
but i also had other non-nit-picky things to say; like how the word "fedayeen" doesn't mean terrorist in arabic. it means something like a commando, or any kind of irregular guerrilla forces, it also can mean a "partisan" or "freedom fighter." the word for "terrorist" is "irhaabi", "irhaabi'een" for plural (powertool john would probably say "irhaabi'eens").
the word "fedayeen" came to be known to americans because of saddam's fedayeen paramilitary unit. early in the iraq war, the fedayeen made headlines because they were one of the only enemy units that managed to cause any problems for the invading american forces. they weren't terrorists, they were targeting an invading army, not civilians. but it's not surprising that your average right-wing ideologue might get confused. back in the heady days of 2003, any arabs opposing u.s. forces were called terrorists.
anyway, that's the shorter version to a longer rant. but luckily the longer rant isn't even necessary anymore. sir oolius got his hands on yet another captured iraqi document, a document that i have personally authenticated. and oolius' translation throws the powerline document into an entirely different light. it looks like saddam wasn't training any fedayeens back in '99 after all. no, what he was up to was far more diabolical. i don't want to reveal the surprise ending, go check it out for yourself.
