WORLD WAR III: Who Said? Yes, Even President Bush

The more you dig, the more you find that rhetoric about World War III is sneaking into the language at large. First off, more than a year ago, Bush quoted Osama bin Laden as saying, “This Third World War is raging.” Only, then he went on to use the phrase himself.

This past spring, the exact words crossed Bush’s lips. Speaking of Flight 93 that crashed in Pennsylvania on 9/11, he said, “I believe that it was the first counterattack to World War III.”

In fact, there’s an entire school of people talking in these terms. With many thanks to Bill Berkowitz’s report, here’s a sampling.

Nobody’s heard Bush say anything of the kind since. A gaffe? Perhaps, but one that can hardly fall by the wayside. It’s not a harmless slip of the tongue. Rather, it’s the ostensible ruler of the free world saying that his war is the big one.

(Mind you, WWII wasn’t called as such until 1945. Then again, the War on Terror is almost five years old itself.)

The rest of the prophets:

Bill O’Reilly: “World War III . . . I think we’re in it.”

Glenn Beck: “Would you agree with me that World War III, we’re already here?”

Newt Gingrich: “This is World War III.”

In a recent Haaretz editorial, Bradley Burston wrote, “It’s true, this is World War III. And we are losing.”

More? Well, others are saying World War IV and World War V.

(Photo from flickr.)