Colorful Language

In response to this morning's editorial, Mideast Lessons from 1973, from the ussually reliable David Ignatius of the Washington Post, I wrote the following letter to the author:

David,

I found your editorial Mideast Lessons from 1973 coherent, thoughtful, and persuasive. However, I do take exception with your word choice, particularly in this sentence: “That long-ago war, like the current one in Lebanon, began with an Arab sneak attack -- a potentially devastating Egyptian thrust across the Suez Canal, cruelly launched on Israel's holiest day.”

The word sneaky implies a negative connotation of underhanded behavior. I fail to understand how a counter-attack, launched deep inside your country’s own territory can be considered a “sneak attack.” Considering Israel had spent nearly $500 million fortifying this position, known as the Bar Lev Line, the attack can hardly be considered a surprise on the Israeli’s part. Furthermore, in an interview with Newsweek in April 1973, Sadat publicly acknowledged his desire to go to war with Israel to recapture occupied territory. Finally, Israel had received numerous warnings from both an Egyptian informer as well as King Hussein of Jordan that an attack from Syria and Egypt was imminent. Perhaps you meant to use the word “surprise” attack, although it can hardly be considered a surprise. The accusations of an Arab sneak attack become more dubious considering Israel and the West’s history in the 1956 Suez conflict: orchestrating false pretenses for a war to capture a vestige of colonialism amounts to “sneaky” behavior in my opinion.

You go on to characterize the timing of the counter-attack, during Yom Kippur, as “cruel.” This statement, again made in reference to the counter-attack deep inside Egypt, I believe shows a misunderstanding for the nature of the conflict and perhaps all armed conflict as a whole. Any such counter-attack, regardless of the date, can hardly be considered a “cruel” tactic. You also fail to mention that the attack also occurred during Ramadan.

Please keep the insightful ideas coming, but I believe you do a disservice to your readers by using misleading language before even presenting the “meat” of your ideas.

Regards,