The title is a reference to a parcel of dialogue from one of my favorite childhood movies (the guessing contest to “Name the movie” will be hosted in the comments section below). One character says to another something to the effect “You’ll find many of the truths we cling to depend upon our point of view.” This was the quip that came to mind immediately after reading the paragraph below at the UK Telegraph:
For among the rebel lines in al-Safira flutters the black flag of the al-Nusra Brigade, the jihadist group that recently declared its allegiance to al-Qaeda. Known for their fighting prowess honed in Iraq, they are now taking the lead in nearly every frontline in the Syrian war, and earlier this month, pushed to within just over a mile of al-Safira, only to for the Syrian troops to regain the ground last week.
In particular, the statement “Known for their fighting prowess honed in Iraq,” caught me.
I suppose from a “Spirit of George Orwell’s writing” point of view “Fighting prowess honed in Iraq” can be some sort of contextual shorthand for “Expertly dodged American combat forces by blending in amongst the native population making only occassional and furtive covert ambush-style attacks which were operationally and strategically ineffective, and eventually succumbed anyway to either American combat forces or Iraqis who tired of you hiding amongst them when you weren’t treating them barbarously.”
I would have loved to have posted this to Twitter, but I just couldn’t figure out a way to condense that down to 140 characters.