Insurgent and Surge

We have been trained to view the insurgents in Iraq as the "bad guys," even though it's quite clear that our revolutionary heroes (G. Washington, T. Paine, & Company) were themselves insurgents, one and all. There is, then, nothing inherently wrong with "rising up in revolt." Jefferson even recommended it as a remedy against tyranny. We may conclude, therefore, that what determines our feelings about insurgents relates to who is revolting against whom.

The same government that has encouraged us to despise the insurgents has also urged us to support the surge, a temporary increase in the number of soldiers. So we surge against the insurgents.

At this point, you have probably guessed that "insurgent" and "surge" are etymologically linked, both coming from the Latin "surrigere" meaning "to rise." "Surrigere is a compound of "sub" and "regere "to keep straight," the source of many English words including "regulation" and "rectitude."

Thus, the Iraqi insurgents and the surging soldiers who oppose them are linked not only in battle but in linguistics.