The Slippery Slope Begins - Article Example

Rhetorical Analysis Essay The Slippery Slope Begins is an article written by the New York Times that focuses on how the U.S. Policy on fighting ISIS has already taken a shift from Obama’s previous position that the U.S was ready to combat the ISIS militants. The author of this article uses specific types of appeals and targets a certain audience to grab the reader’s attention and inform them of the changing policies involving the war with ISIS in the Middle East as well as gives an opinion on what might be the better choice in this situation moving forward. The New York Times is a highly regarded American daily newspaper that was founded and has been continuously published since September 18, 1851. It is a reputable source to obtain information from. This daily newspaper focuses on topics of significance and informs its readers of issues happening all over the world. The New York Times has won more Pulitzer prizes than any other news organization, one hundred and fourteen to be exact. Knowing this information, it is evident that this daily newspaper is trustworthy and is of good reputation. The New York Times shared an article on September 16, 2014 about how Obama has changed his earlier decision on whether the U.S was ready to fight against the ISIS militants in the Middle East. ISIS is a group that is now threatening parts of Iraq and Syria. The article explains how many people have lost their lives, with the most recent being the beheading of a journalist and Aid Workers. The United States and the United Kingdom have declared war on the militant groups. American troops will directly be involved in the fight. The Congress is still equivocal on whether or not to back Iraqi troops, a contradiction from the President’s earlier statement that the U.S was ready to launch manhunt for the Islamic State militants. The article states that will be a costly undertaking given that the last two occasions America has gone to war; the taxpayer has had to suffer. This statement represents a pathos type of appeal. This is because a large majority of people being taxpayers would most likely not like the idea of having their finances affected by whatever the outcome of this situation might be. Stating this type of information in their article is a way to influence the reader into thinking that sending our troops to the Middle East to battle against ISIS is not a good idea. The article has many pathoses driven arguments. The article written by The New York Times goes into detail about how sacrifice on wars ought not to be repeated. Lately, American Aid workers have been the targets of the insurgent groups. By involving Americans in the voluntary aid programs, they become easy targets for the militants. Americans should not be involved to help save further bloodshed. Fight against the militants should be in the interest of the American people. General Dempsey, head of Joint Chiefs of Staff seems to have been speaking for himself. American forces should avoid direct combat. Instead, there needs to be an intelligent assessment about the ISIS strengths and weaknesses first before taking any military measures on the part of the U.S. defense. The New York Times uses a pathos type of appeal for this article because it is attempting to speak to the readers emotions. This article mentions that Americans should not be left in the open for militants to possibly capture and harm. The audience would also feel sympathy towards the innocent Americans who have already lost their lives against the malevolent forces of ISIS. In addition, the reader would most likely agree with this statement, as it would be a shame for more Americans involuntary aid programs as well as the U.S. defense force to lose their lives. Some of the instances pointed out by the New York Times included the fact that Americas interference with Iraq led to a deep-seated hatred and animosity from the Middle East. Perhaps America should learn from this. The insurgents could take the city of Mosul in Iraq, for instance. Countries such as Syria have suffered from similar interventions before. The U.S. could likely suffer the same consequences. The article states: If there is any lesson to be taken from recent military conflicts, it is how easily the country can slip into an intractable war, with consequences that cannot be fully foreseen, and the fight against the Islamic State is more complicated and multidimensional than most. This quote uses a type of fallacious pathos titled The Slippery Slope. This type of fallacious pathos suggests that a particular argument or course of action will lead to terrible consequences without presenting evidence. The article specifically mentions that the consequences of the action stated cannot be fully foreseen. Without this foresight, the article is contradicting itself by saying that it does not have the sources, evidence, or data to back up its statement. The article points out that war with ISIS would be so involving; involving more logistics and bureaucracies than meet the eye. If America were to go on war with ISIS, most likely other insurgent groups would come up; such was the case with Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram. It is better to deal with the cause than dealing with the case superficially. The war between Israel and Palestine has taken longer to contain than projected. Perhaps, let us look at the financial statistics. Again, this is a pathos type of appeal where the article evokes the reader’s emotions, mentioning that perhaps there are better ways of dealing with the problem. The article points out that instead of going to war, the motivation behind the war should be investigated conclusively to avoid unnecessary bloodshed. The U.S. Congress approved $500 million to train and equip Syrian rebels to help curb the ISIS security scare. Here, the New York Times uses a fallacious pathos, suggesting that perhaps America has done enough and that the problem of dealing with the militants lie squarely with the militants. When President Obama addressed the American people some time back about extending the fight against the deadly Islamic Militant groups popularly called ISIL or ISIS-a group that has terrorized parts of Syria and Iraq-he mentioned that the involvement might not mean committing the American ground troops. Here, the article makes the reader sympathize with the American people, and the president is somewhat portrayed as not being honest. The article uses pathos type of appeal to vividly attract the reader’s attention. He mentioned that the American forces would be involved in the combat mission. Barely, a few days after, Gen. Dempsey, representing Joint Chiefs of Staff, relayed different information. He did testify that if America reaches a point where security advisers accompany Iraqi troops in their fight against the ISIS targets, he would indeed recommend the same to the president. He cited Mosul, an Iraqi City to be in potential danger, for instance. The article uses facts and figures to support their well crafted heading The Slippery Slope Begins. The facts are well presented and the reader can is made to understand that fight against the ISIS militants is not in the interest of the American people. Dempsey’s statement can only be taken to mean a shift from President Obamas earlier commitment of not wanting to take America back to endless wars with the Middle East. The article uses ethos in that it brings out well-detailed arguments as to why the U.S policy on war with ISIS is changing. This is captured in by this statement, “For instance, a written testimony from White House had his signature. In this regard, it would only have been right that the comments are reviewed, for instance, by Pentagon officials, and thoroughly scrutinized for misstatements and errors, before being availed for public consumption. Here, the article faults the Congress and General Dempsey for giving false information before validating their facts. Through the pathos and ethos, the reader sympathizes with the American people, especially those who have lost lives and Obama’s policy on fight against the ISIS is faulted. Work Cited Embassy, U. S. "Terrorist Designations of Groups Operating in Syria." (2014). Retrieved from: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/17/opinion/is-us-policy-on-fighting- isis-already-changing.html?_r=0 accessed 6/1/2015 Read More