"Escalate"

In his announcement today, Edwards used the proper term for what Bush and McCain want to do in Iraq:

Edwards explicitly condemned the "surge" plan for Iraq. But he didn't call it the surge. "It is a mistake," he said, "for America to escalate the war in Iraq."  That's the term the blogs have adopted as well, and its prominent placement, used before he mentioned the word "surge," struck me as a possible dog whistle to the left.

As for the announcement itself, I can't get too excited about it. We all knew Edwards was running for president, and as you'll soon see, each of these guys will "announce" like five times.

But it would be quite significant to see a critical mass form around the word "escalate". We've got to call the Bush/McCain plan what it is -- an escalation -- rather than the politically more palatable word ("surge") they'd rather use. And it's good to see Edwards assist in that effort.

Update: Barack Obama is also talking "escalation".

Escalation Is Not The Answer

As the New Year approaches, we are told that the President is considering the deployment of tens of thousands of additional troops to Iraq in the desperate hope of subduing the burgeoning civil war there.

This is a chilling prospect that threatens to compound the tragic mistakes he has already made over the last four years.