Preview

A Rhetorical Analysis Of Blowback By Chalmers Johnson

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1025 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
A Rhetorical Analysis Of Blowback By Chalmers Johnson
“Blowback”
By: Chalmers Johnson

“[The Unites States] Our government has never been honest” (Johnson 365). What a strong statement Chalmers Johnson stated in his article, “Blowback”. “Blowback” in his words is defined as a CIA term meaning the over throw of Mohammad Mossedegh of Iran (366). The author uses this metaphor to help explain how the unintended consequences of the United States government has not only been kept secret from the people but is continuality being taken out on average every day people; making such strong relations between the notorious, Osama Bin Laden and the U.S. government being no more evil than the other is sure to spark anger among Americans. Even with Johnson’s strong background on issues such as Blowback and the relationship between the United States and the Middle East, his argument was weakened with such negative emotion toward the U.S. and having a lack of facts to support his claim against the United States government.
…show more content…
By doing this it instantly builds a trust between the reader and the author. With having prior knowledge and research done with this topic, it will be easy for the writer to influence the reader. Johnson lists that he not only contributes to a very well known and popular news post like the Los Angeles Times, but he also list that he has written many books on East Asia and political violence (365). Having this background and highlighting it before his article is effective in convincing his

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this political cartoon that was created by Mike Luckovich for the Atlanta journal strikes directly at the republican party. Stating that most people who are not middled aged christian white men are pretty much against them. It shows a large group of republicans but there are no women there even though there is a sign that says “ladies night”. One republican is asking another what other groups have they lost including the ones they already have even though it obvious that women are not at the party.…

    • 723 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Robert Ebert, columnist for the Chicago Sun, argues the lack of a real plotline in the movie, “Paranormal Activity 2,” makes the movie terrible. What makes people continue to go watch the paranormal activity series is the scare they receive when watching it. Ebert uses the repetition of the word “gotcha” instead of the word scare to lower the reputation of the movie so that you view the movie as childish. Also, Ebert comments on the unnecessary use of stating the time and day. He shows that he did not understand why the directors would state that there was a certain amount of “days before the death of Micah Sloat.” Ebert criticizes the fact by stating “What are we supposed to do…

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    “We love death. The U.S. loves life. That is the difference between us two.” (Osama bin Laden, 2004.) On September 11, 2001, al-Qaeda crashed two airlines loaded with fuel into the world Trade Center in New York city. Killing over 3,000 people; including 400 officers and firefighters, America was under attack. Although Bin Laden didn't personally attacked the US, he organized and finalize the Mujahideen, was the founder of al-Qaeda, and played the role as the mastermind of the 9/11 tragedy.…

    • 335 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    John F Kennedy delivered one of the finest speeches on January 20, 1961 after being sworn into office. His inauguration speech was so powerful that it captured the entire nation attention, and quotes from it are still remembered by people today. It is one of the finest speeches ever written. It provides a strong appeal to pathos, ethos and logos, and it is because of this that people who never heard the speech can quote lines from it.…

    • 878 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ron Carlson’s Reading the Paper is a list of the things occurring in the time period of a day in the life of a character. The idea of the common everyday life is represented with the very first sentence: ALL I WANT TO DO is read the paper, but I’ve got to do the wash first.…

    • 703 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Jfk Rhetorical Analysis

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages

    2. He uses false numbers to seem as though he has an extended knowledge during a discussion. “A president can’t stop anything” this was proven to be a false claim made by Richard Nixon.…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    9/11 Summary

    • 2006 Words
    • 9 Pages

    The attack on the United States on September 11, 2001 (better known as 9/11) by Osama Bin Laden rammed a wedge into the relationship between the United States and the Islamic world. In result the U.S. invaded Afghanistan and the invaded Iraq. Professor Irogbe’s article on the occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq argues that the U.S. actions are igniting rather than reducing global terrorism and if U.S. were to withdraw troops from these countries it would promise for global peace and security. The article covers the cost of human and financial resources of the war, abuses committed by invaders including the application of extraordinary rendition, the indefinite detention of prisoners…

    • 2006 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Schmitt, Eric and Thom Shanker. “Counterstrike: The Untold Story of America’s Secret Campaign against al Qaeda.” Times Books, 2011.…

    • 17193 Words
    • 69 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Following that day, every word he uttered to the mass media was analyzed. For example, the commitment of some European countries to the fight against al Qaeda was tested when he warned them, “As you spoil our security, we will do so to you...Your security is in your own hands. Any nation that does not attack us will not be attacked.”8 Suddenly, his message reached an entire globe that listened to every word he uttered even as he became more personally isolated.…

    • 1431 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    On September 11, 2001 the United States experienced the most devastating attack on US soil since Pearl Harbor. This terrorist attack left people with several questions: Who would do this? and How could this happen? When the 9/11 commission report came out it revealed that there were intelligence failures on many levels, most importantly of which was a lack of or unwillingness of agencies to share intelligence. The Commission’s report noted, “information was not shared, sometimes inadvertently or because of legal misunderstandings” and “ Often the handoffs of information were lost across the divide separating the foreign and domestic agencies of the government” (9/11 Commission Report 2004, 353). For example the report highlights the case of Khalid al Mihdhar and Nawaf al Hazmi, two individuals that the NSA had identified and the CIA were tracking their movements…

    • 598 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    After 9/11 many lives were lost which impacted many of American’s daily lives, now this catastrophic event will be remembered in history forever. Not only will Americans never forget 9/11, but their perception of the attackers will change as well. Many never thought that they would be attacked and especially they never thought that a terrorist attack could be carried out so efficiently and devastate so many. As a result, many Americans decide to change their foreign policy, now more than ever they believed that the only way to prevent anything like this from happen again is if they enforce and change their foreign policy towards the middle east and neighboring countries.…

    • 1177 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In recent discussions of Edward Snowden, a controversial issue has been whether or not he was wrong for leaking government information. On the one hand, some argue that he is an American hero. From this perspective, it is a good thing that he exposed the inappropriate surveillance tactics of the American government. On the other hand, however, others argue that he is a traitor. From this perspective, he betrayed his country by leaking information to other countries. In the words of President Barack Obama, “If any individual who objects to government policy can take it into their own hands to publicly disclose classified information, then we will not be able to keep our people safe, or conduct foreign policy” (Mason). In sum, then, the…

    • 1669 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Even though Hussein was not directly linked to the terrorist attacks, Hussein was suspected of producing weapons of mass destruction, however, none were ever found. President George W. Bush’s The War on Terror. Now the confidence in believing the state regarding whatever it says, on terrorism, war, freedom of information, climate change, even when the governments are telling the truth. The effects of 9/11 politically, socially, economically and in virtually all spheres of life the US government wiretapping telephone calls of American citizens without a warrant to no-fly lists, Americans have witnessed the erosion of civil rights, and civil liberties have been eroded and our concern for individual rights, rounding up and deporting Muslim immigrants by the thousands when there was anything dubious about their status; including the claim that our president had the constitutional authority to imprison indefinitely, without trial, any person on the planet he deemed an “unlawful enemy combatant”. The United States is still involved in the Middle East to this day. The changes from 9/11 continue to have effects across the globe, particularly in the Middle East, where American-led military operations helped foment rebellions and ongoing warfare throughout the…

    • 463 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In today’s society, the issue of terrorism is not just a concern for some countries such as America or some Arabic countries but for all countries, and it is becoming more important that protecting own country from terrorism. Everyone probably remember the September 11 terror, which is one of the biggest attacks in recent few decades. Because of that the U.S government pays more attention to protect the country from terrorist attacks. In the process of preventing terrorism, the U.S. government focuses more on Arabic people, who committed the 9/11 attack, to find terrorists…

    • 985 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It has only been a little more than a decade since the grave events of September 11, 2001, a tragic day forever marked in America’s history. The attack on the World Trade Center was a pivotal occasion that began the crisis that is the United State’s moral and political ambiguity of the 21st century. This has been a decade of vague and changing policy when looking at international affairs. From the power change in the Pentagon to the transition of circumstances across the globe, the years following the 9/11 attacks have emphasized the point of stance that Jack Snyder has taken in his “One World, Rival Theories.” Black and white cease to exist when foreign policy ideologies are put to practice; the theories are bent and blended to suit the present…

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays