It is just that the American way of doing international politics is devoid of real arguments and on the contrary is full of pretexts.

BBC: Is there enough evidence for war on Iraq?

Arnold admits to keeping four aliases, called "pretexts, " in undisclosed locations.

FORBES: Cartier Cop

"When we eschew dialogue, our international partners find pretexts to eschew pressure, " says Karim Sadjadpour, an Iran analyst at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

WSJ: Iran Emerging as Election-Year Wild Card

If, in the weeks ahead, Mr Netanyahu loses the political will that led him to sign the Wye document, he will find plenty of pretexts to stop implementation.

ECONOMIST: In the wake of Wye

Like you'd expect, 99% of the stuff is total crap, but our pals over at Tiger Telematics have been issuing press releases for their new Gizmondo portable game console almost every day lately, often on the flimsiest of pretexts.

ENGADGET: Tiger Telematics goes overboard with Gizmondo press releases

So there are excuses and pretexts.

ECONOMIST: Britain��s feuding coalition government

Not a straight news broadcast, her program presents what are really journalistic essays with a clear point of view, loaded with the evidence of good reporting and the insights of Maddow and her producers into the pretexts and subtexts of the conservative agenda and its policies.

CENTERFORSECURITYPOLICY: A Campaign of Willful Blindness on Terrorism