President Obamas Address on Iraq - Essay Example

Textual Analysis; President Obama’s Address on Iraq Outline Introduction America is the words peace custodian with collaboration with other nations. It is possible to understand the discourse of America’s political activities by textually analyzing the speeches given by president Obama as he talks about issues such as Iraq war. Rhetorical Context Writer and the Role The speech was prepared and presented by Obama as the American president. The president is speaking on behalf of the American people. Intended audience, and audience discourse The intended audience is the American people. The president is trying to reassure the Americans that the war has ended and the troops are back home. Textual feature Issue At Hand, Position Taken, and Main Claim The primary issue being addressed by the speech is the end of war in Iraq. He affirms that a lot of sacrifice was needed and that that day marks the end of exposure of American troops to the threats in Iraq. Major claim is that the deployment of the troops to Iraq was justified and necessary. Power of Reason, Claim Authority, and Refutations This speech demonstrates the use of persuasive techniques. His claim seems to lack support from some of the audience. He supports his argument and claim by saying that America is a land of peace and that any peacekeeping missions are a priority since nothing can be exchanged for peace. More notably, he uses the authority of other people to support his claims. The Text in New Context This text relates with other texts that have been addressing similar issues. The context of this speech has been overly recited in most of the texts talking about war in Libya. The context of this text will continue to be cited are referred to in future especially by leaders who will be supporting further action against terrorism.   Textual Analysis; President Obama’s Address on Iraq Introduction In the midst of global security issues prevalent in the modern society, many societies all over the world are taking stringent measures to ensure that their societies remain safe from security threats. However, larger societies such as America have always been on the forefront in fighting for peace all over the world. It can actually be argued that America is the words peace custodian with collaboration with other nations. It is possible to understand the discourse of political activities by textually analyzing the speeches given by political leaders as they address various issues in the society. This is a textual analysis of president Obama’s address on Iraq. Rhetorical Context The speech was prepared and presented by Obama as the American president and the ultimate authority over the issues affecting Iraq. From the onset of the speech, it is undeniable that America took the responsibility of quenching the terror threat and war in Iraq. The former president was responsible for arranging for peace restoration in Iraq. Therefore, the president is speaking on behalf of the American people since they are the ones who have vested the leadership power to him. The intended audience is the American people. The American people are the main contributors to the terror fighting efforts in Iraq since they pay tax and their money is used in peacekeeping missions all over the world including Iraq. Additionally, American troops have suffered in the war zone in Iraq and therefore, the Americans are worried about their families in Iraq. Therefore, the president is trying to reassure the Americans that the war has ended and the troops are back. Textual Features The primary issue being addressed by the speech is the end of war in Iraq. It is evident from the speech that the audience, American citizens, have always looked forward to this day when the war will end and they will have a chance to meet with their family and friends who had gone to the peace restoration mission in Iraq. Although the president is trying to reassure the Americans that the peace restoration mission was a success, he also affirms that a lot of sacrifice was needed and that that day marks the end of exposure of American troops to the threats in Iraq. The president’s major claim is that the deployment of the troops to Iraq was justified and necessary. He claims that the peace restoration mission in Iraq was an American burden and the sacrifice was worthwhile. However, his claim seems to lack support from some of the audience. This is because he claims that the initial decision to invade Iraq was divided among patriots. However, he supports his argument and claim by saying that America is a land of peace and that any peace keeping missions are a priority since nothing can be exchanged for peace. The reasons given to support his claim are strong. He asserts that Americans had to make many sacrifices in terms of deploying troops, tax contribution, and foreign borrowing among other sacrifices to make sure that the war on terror is won. He describes Iraq as the battlefield in which fight for global terrorism is based. He wants to make the audience understand that uprooting of terror groups in Iraq and nurturing of a well-functioning Iraqi government is the key to a safe world. Bearing that this speech was delivered two years ago, these claims can be assumed to have been true. This is because terrorism has reduced remarkably all over the world. The war in Iraq has reduced tremendously and everything has actually gone back to normal. It is undeniable that president Obama is one of the most persuasive an influential speaker in the modern times. This speech demonstrates the use of persuasive techniques. Obama uses strong points, which he takes time to develop by use of ethos logos and pathos. He then takes time to place refutations within the speech and later makes his point clear. It is worth noting the way he takes the speech from his own context as the president and places it in the hands of the Americans so that it looks as if the Americans wrote the speech. He does not end his speech without recounting the profound achievement that the war on Iraq has achieved. This makes his audience to concur with him regarding the justification of the war. More notably, he uses the authority of other people to support his claims. For instance, he uses the example of Joe Biden’s visit to Iraq and President Bush as strong supports for his claims. He asserts that these political icons share the same ideas as him and therefore, the audience should feel comfortable with the issue at hand. The Text in New Context This text relates with other texts that have been addressing similar issues. Since the war in Afghanistan and Iraq has been on the political and media limelight for a long time, most of the claims made in other texts are similar to the claims in this text. More notably, the context of this speech has been overly recited in most of the texts talking about war in Libya. Indeed, most of the people who have been supporting war in Libya and the fight against Murmur Gaddafi have been citing the success of America in Iraq. Therefore, the context of this text have been mirrored in many of the modern texts which have been discussing issues of war on terrorism especially in Islamic and Arabic countries. Moreover, it is expected that the context of this text will continue to be cited are referred to in future especially by leaders who will be supporting further action against terrorism. More importantly, it will find more use in campaign periods. Particularly, Obama is likely to reuse this text or parts of it in his presidential campaigns if he will consider running for presidency for the second term (The New York Times web). Works Cited The New York Times. President Obama’s Address on Iraq. 2010. Web 15, April 2012. Read More