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Encyclopedia > Friedman (unit)

One Friedman Unit equals six months.[1]


The term is a neologism coined by blogger Atrios[2] (Duncan Black) in reference to the discovery by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting of journalist Thomas Friedman's repeated use[3] of "the next six months" as the time period in which, according to Friedman, "we're going to find out...whether a decent outcome is possible" in the Iraq War. A neologism (from Greek νεολογισμός νέος [neos] = new; λόγος [logos] = word) is a word, term, or phrase which has been recently created (coined) — often to apply to new concepts, to synthesize pre-existing concepts, or to make older terminology sound more contemporary. ... Dr. Duncan B. Black, known under his internet publishing pseudonym as Atrios, is the author of the popular United States liberal weblog Eschaton, which receives an average of over 100,000 hits per day. ... Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), founded in 1986, is an American organization that works against and documents what it perceives as bias in the media, censorship, and erroneous reporting. ... Thomas Loren Friedman, OBE (born July 20, 1953) an American journalist, author and three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ...


FAIR cited his use of the phrase as early as 2003. More broadly, any date-specific statement by a public figure regarding the future of Iraq or the Iraq War may be measured in Friedman Units. Examples may involve troop withdrawals, the formation of government in parliament, the pacification of Baghdad, or merely an upcoming "critical time" in Iraq. Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting (FAIR), founded in 1986, is an American organization that works against and documents what it perceives as bias in the media, censorship, and erroneous reporting. ... For other uses, see Iraq war (disambiguation). ... Baghdad ( translit: ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate. ...


On August 4, 2006, roughly half way through his most recent Friedman Unit, Friedman appeared to have finally reached a conclusion about the war, writing that "democracy is not emerging in Iraq, and we can’t throw more good lives after good lives."[4] On November 29, 2006, Friedman unveiled a new time metric, that some refer to as a "New Friedman Unit" or "Metric Friedman Unit." This measure of time is "10 months or 10 years"[5] and refers to the argument Friedman now makes that the United States must either re-commit itself to fully stabilizing Iraq (10 years) or complete a phased withdrawal (10 months). This new dual unit of time is equivalent to either 1.66 or 20 Friedman Units. The International System of Units (symbol: SI) (for the French phrase Syst me International dUnit s) is the most widely used system of units. ...


Examples

Name Occupation Description FUs Begin date End date
Thomas Friedman opinion columnist "The next six months in Iraq... are the most important six months in U.S. foreign policy in a long, long time"[3] 1.0 November 30, 2003 May 30, 2004
Tony Blair U.K. Prime Minister "The important thing is to realize we are about to enter into a very critical six months"[6] 1.0 January 5, 2004 July 5, 2004
Thomas Friedman opinion columnist "What we're gonna find out... in the next six to nine months is whether we have liberated a country or uncorked a civil war."[3] 1.0–1.5 October 3, 2004 April 3, 2005
Chuck Hagel U.S. Senator "The next six months will be "very critical" in Iraq, he said."[7] 1.0 August 18, 2005 February 18, 2006
Thomas Friedman opinion columnist "I think we're in the end game now.... I think we're in a six-month window here where it's going to become very clear"[3] 1.0 September 25, 2005 March 25, 2006
Joe Biden U.S. Senator "I think we have a six-month window here to get it right."[8] 1.0 November 27, 2005 May 27, 2006
John Warner U.S. Senator "we've got to stay firm for the next six months. It is a critical period..."[8] 1.0 November 27, 2005 May 27, 2006
John McCain U.S. Senator "we will probably see significant progress in the next six months to a year"[9] 1.0 December 4, 2005 June 4, 2006
Thomas Friedman opinion columnist "I think the next six months really are going to determine whether this country is going to collapse"[3] 1.0 December 18, 2005 June 18, 2006
Joe Biden U.S. Senator "Next six months are going to tell the story."[10] 1.0 December 18, 2005 June 18, 2006
Thomas Friedman opinion columnist "I think that we're going to know after six to nine months whether this project has any chance of succeeding"[3] 1.0–1.5 January 23, 2006 July 23, 2006
Thomas Friedman opinion columnist "I think we are in the end game. The next six to nine months are going to tell whether we can produce a decent outcome in Iraq."[3] 1.0–1.5 March 2, 2006 September 2, 2006
Thomas Friedman opinion columnist "we're going to find out... in the next year to six months - probably sooner - whether a decent outcome is possible"[3] 1.0 May 11, 2006 November 11, 2006
Zalmay Khalilzad U.S. Ambassador "The next six months will be critical in terms of reining in the danger of civil war. If the government fails to achieve this, it will have lost its opportunity"[11] 1.0 June 7, 2006 December 7, 2006
General Barry McCaffrey U.S. Military Academy "I think between now and Christmas [six months] is the crucial time."[12] 1.0 June 11, 2006 December 25, 2006
Joe Lieberman U.S. Senator "by the end of this year [six months], we will begin to draw down significant numbers of American troops"[13] 1.0 July 7, 2006 December 31, 2006
Joe Biden U.S. Senator "one year from now, if there is not significant progress... 'there's going to be really no prospect... of keeping any large number of American forces here.'"[13] 2.0 July 7, 2006 July 7, 2007
Lee Hamilton ISG Co-Chair "The next three months are critical."[14] 0.5 September 20, 2006 December 20, 2006
Zalmay Khalilzad U.S. Ambassador "He has a window of a couple months...If the perception is that this unity government is not able to deal with this issue, then a big opportunity would have been lost"[15] 0.3 September 30, 2006 November 30, 2006
General George Casey U.S. Army "said that the next six months will be a decisive period that will determine Iraq's future"[16] 1.0 October 5, 2006 April 5, 2007
Tony Blair U.K. Prime Minister "Blair gives Iraq 12 months to be ready for handover"[17] 2.0 October 23, 2006 October 23, 2007
Carl Levin U.S. Senator "U.S. troops should begin coming home from Iraq in the next four to six months"[18] 1.0 November 13, 2006 May 13, 2007
John McCain U.S. Senator "Mr. McCain said that the fate of the Iraqi venture would be decided in the next six months or so"[19] 1.0 November 13, 2006 May 13, 2007
General John Abizaid CENTCOM Commander "[A Senator] asked General Abizaid how much time the United States had to bring down the violence in Baghdad... the answer was four to six months"[20] 1.0 November 15, 2006 May 15, 2007
Barack Obama U.S. Senator "called for a 'gradual and substantial' reduction of U.S. forces... in four to six months"[21] 1.0 November 20, 2006 May 20, 2007
Nouri al-Maliki Iraqi Prime Minister "I can tell you that from our side our forces will be ready [to assume security command] by June 2007 [six months]"[22] 1.0 November 30, 2006 June 1, 2007
Thomas Friedman opinion columnist "Ten Months or Ten Years." [23] 1.67 or 20 (= 1 NFU) November 29, 2006 September 29, 2007 or November 29, 2016
Thomas Friedman opinion columnist "our real choices in Iraq are 10 months or 10 years" [24] 1.67 or 20 (= 1 NFU) December 8, 2006 October 8, 2007 or December 8, 2016

Thomas Loren Friedman, OBE (born July 20, 1953) an American journalist, author and three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. ... Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the UK Labour Party, and Member of the UK Parliament for the constituency of Sedgefield in North East England. ... The Prime Minister is in practice the most important political office in the United Kingdom. ... Thomas Loren Friedman, OBE (born July 20, 1953) an American journalist, author and three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. ... Charles Timothy Chuck Hagel (born October 4, 1946) is the senior United States Senator from Nebraska. ... Thomas Loren Friedman, OBE (born July 20, 1953) an American journalist, author and three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. ... Joseph Robinette Joe Biden, Jr. ... John William Warner (born February 18, 1927) is an American statesman and politician, who served as Secretary of the Navy from 1972-1974 and has served as a Republican senator from Virginia since 1979. ... John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona, having served since 1987. ... Thomas Loren Friedman, OBE (born July 20, 1953) an American journalist, author and three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. ... Joseph Robinette Joe Biden, Jr. ... Thomas Loren Friedman, OBE (born July 20, 1953) an American journalist, author and three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. ... Thomas Loren Friedman, OBE (born July 20, 1953) an American journalist, author and three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. ... Thomas Loren Friedman, OBE (born July 20, 1953) an American journalist, author and three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. ... Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. ... Gen. ... The United States Military Academy, also known as West Point, or simply USMA (or Army, for NCAA purposes), is a United States Army fort and military academy. ... Joseph Isadore Lieberman (born February 24, 1942) is an American politician from Connecticut. ... Joseph Robinette Joe Biden, Jr. ... Lee Herbert Hamilton is the vice chair of the 9-11 Commission and currently serves on the Presidents Homeland Security Advisory Council. ... Iraq is currently undergoing severe sectarian strife. ... Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad. ... General George Casey General George W. Casey, Jr. ... The United States Army is the largest branch of the United States armed forces and has primary responsibility for land-based military operations. ... Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953)[1] is the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service, Leader of the UK Labour Party, and Member of the UK Parliament for the constituency of Sedgefield in North East England. ... Carl Milton Levin (born June 28, 1934) is a Democratic United States Senator from Michigan. ... John Sidney McCain III (born August 29, 1936) is the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona, having served since 1987. ... John Philip Abizaid (Arabic: جون أبي زيد) (born April 1, 1951) is a General in the United States Army and the Commander of the United States Central Command (CENTCOM), overseeing American military operations in a 27-country region, from the Horn of Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, to South and Central Asia, covering much... Emblem of the United States Central Command. ... Obama redirects here. ... Nouri al-Maliki Nouri Kamel al-Maliki (Arabic: نوري كامل المالكي, transliterated Nūrī Kāmil al-Mālikī; born c. ... Kingdom of Iraq (1921-1959) The Prime Minister of Iraq is Iraqs head of government. ... Thomas Loren Friedman, OBE (born July 20, 1953) an American journalist, author and three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. ... Thomas Loren Friedman, OBE (born July 20, 1953) an American journalist, author and three-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is an op-ed columnist for The New York Times. ...

References

  1. ^ Atrios
  2. ^ Atrios
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h FAIR
  4. ^ http://select.nytimes.com/2006/08/04/opinion/04friedman.html
  5. ^ http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/29/opinion/29friedman.html
  6. ^ http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/01/05/sprj.irq.britain.ap/index.html
  7. ^ http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/18/hagel.iraq/
  8. ^ a b http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10154103/
  9. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10266650/
  10. ^ http://biden.senate.gov/newsroom/details.cfm?id=249944
  11. ^ http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,419978,00.html
  12. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13189411/page/2/
  13. ^ a b http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/07/AR2006070700029_pf.html
  14. ^ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2006/09/20/MNGOAL8RES1.DTL&type=printable
  15. ^ http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15069942/from/RS.2/
  16. ^ http://uk.news.yahoo.com/05102006/323/iraq-entering-decisive-six-months-general-casey.html
  17. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,,1929000,00.html
  18. ^ http://www.upi.com/SecurityTerrorism/view.php?StoryID=20061113-041854-1033r
  19. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/washington/14mccain.html
  20. ^ http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/world/middleeast/16policycnd.html?pagewanted=print
  21. ^ http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4348799.html
  22. ^ http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2006/11/30/maliki_iraqis_could_assume_security_by_june_2007/
  23. ^ http://select.nytimes.com/gst/tsc.html?URI=http://select.nytimes.com/2006/11/29/opinion/29friedman.html&OQ=_rQ3D1&OP=b713053Q2FQ2AsQ7BWQ2AIQ26e00IQ2AQ7EQ3EQ3E.Q2ADDQ2AQ7E-Q2A0GUQ5DU0Q5DQ2AQ7E-BeUQ7BdlFQ5DncIlQ24
  24. ^ http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003494507

 
 

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