Friedman (unit)

The Friedman, or Friedman Unit (F.U.), is a tongue-in-cheek neologism coined by blogger Atrios (Duncan Black) on May 21, 2006.cite web
first = Duncan
last = Black
url = http://atrios.blogspot.com/2006_05_21_atrios_archive.html#114826445526365297
authorlink = Atrios
title = The Six Monthers
date = 21 May 2006
publisher = Blogspot
accessdate = 2007-03-18]

A "Friedman" is a unit of time equal to six months in the future.cite web
url = http://www.mediainfo.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003494507
title = Friedman Finally Urges Fixed Date for U.S. Pullout
date = 7 December 2006
work = Editor & Publisher] cite news
url = http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=12&year=2006&base_name=post_2220#014758
work = The American Prospect
title = TAPPED
first = Ezra
last = Klein
date = December 8, 2006
accessdate = 2007-03-18] cite news
url = http://thinkprogress.org/2007/02/28/gen-petreaus-is-in/
work = Think Progress
publisher = Center for American Progress
title = Gen. Petreaus is in
date = February 28, 2007
accessdate = 2007-05-22] cite news
url = http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/archives/individual/2006_11/009956.php
date = November 1, 2006
title = Meltdown in Iraq...
first = Kevin
last = Drum
work = The Washington Monthly
accessdate = 2007-03-18] cite news
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070423/alterman
work = The Nation
title = The Politics of Pundit Prestige...
first = Eric
last = Alterman
date = April 5, 2007
accessdate = 2007-04-10] cite news
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/05/08/BL2007050800898_pf.html
work = The Washington Post
title = Four More Months?
first = Dan
last = Froomkin
date = May 8, 2007
accessdate = 2007-05-09] cite web
first = Matthew
last = Yglesias
url = http://matthewyglesias.theatlantic.com/archives/2007/05/more_friedman_units_to_come.php
title = More Friedman Units to Come
date = 9 May 2007
work = The Atlantic
accessdate = 2007-05-09] The "Huffington Post" cited it as the "Best New Phrase" of 2006.cite news
url = http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eat-the-press/2007/01/02/media-winners-of-2006-ho_e_37571.html
title = Media Winners of 2006: Honorable Mentions (Rapid-Fire Round II)
date = January 2, 2007
work = The Huffington Post
accessdate = 2007-03-18]

The term is in reference to a May 16, 2006 article by Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) detailing journalist Thomas Friedman's repeated usecite web
url = http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=2884
title = Tom Friedman's Flexible Deadlines
date = May 16, 2006
publisher = Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting
accessdate = 2007-05-22] of "the next six months" as the period in which, according to Friedman, "we're going to find out...whether a decent outcome is possible" in the Iraq War. As documented by FAIR, Friedman had been making such six-month predictions for a period of two and a half years, on at least fourteen different occasions, starting with a column in the November 30, 2003 edition of "The New York Times", in which he stated: "The next six months in Iraq—which will determine the prospects for democracy-building there—are the most important six months in U.S. foreign policy in a long, long time."cite news
work = The New York Times
title = The Chant Not Heard
first = Thomas L
last = Friedman
date = November 30, 2003
page = WK 9]

The term has been used in general to describe any pronouncement of a critical period for the U.S. occupation of Iraq. [Mitchell, Greg. "So Wrong for So Long: How the Press, the Pundits--and the President--Failed on Iraq". [http://www.salon.com/books/excerpt/2008/03/11/greg_mitchell/index.html Excerpted] at Salon.com. ISBN 9781402756573] cite news
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/blog/2007/05/08/BL2007050800898_pf.html
work = The Washington Post
title = Four More Months?
first = Dan
last = Froomkin
date = May 8, 2007
accessdate = 2007-05-09] Such pronouncements have been made by numerous politicians and military officials involved in the war.cite news
url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/29/AR2005112901283_pf.html
title = The Time Is (Perpetually) Now
work = Washington Post
last = Milbank
first = Dana
date = November 30, 2005
accessdate = 2007-05-11] cite web
first = Center for American Progress
last =
url = http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/08/timeline.html/
authorlink =
title = Iraq Timeline: The Broken Record on "the Next Few Months"
date = 08 August 2007
publisher = Center for American Progress
accessdate = 2007-08-08] cite news
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/10/AR2007091002066.html
title='Six Months' Without End
last=Robinson
first=Eugene
date=September 11, 2007
publisher=Washington Post
accessdate=2007-09-11]

References

External links

* [http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/08/timeline.html Center for American Progress] interactive timeline