Logical Fallacies in Bush's Speech

George Bush's post 9/11 speech had many facets of persuasive writing, but also a few fallacies. Ad populum is ever present in the speech as he repeatedly cites American values in peace, prosperity, democracy and freedom in order to make a statement of how grand the country is. When stating that "freedom itself is under attack," he implies that the United States is the manifestation of Freedom. He hopes to unify all Americans by using words with positive connotations to generalize how people should feel at a time like this, as well as be supportive of their country. Boldly stating that "either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists," Bush makes a hasty generalization as well as an either or fallacy. He generalizes people and nations who do not support the United States as being in league with the terrorists, when in reality many countries may be completely isolated or uninterested in the conflict. He threatens that if a country does not support or help his own country, they will be no different than terrorists, implying military action against them. This creates a black and white rendition on the newfound war on terror, oversimplifying the complex relations and policies that many world powers partake in.