The Washington Post has an article this morning headlined Navy Wins Exemption From Bush to Continue Sonar Exercises in Calif.:
The White House has exempted the Navy from two major environmental laws in an effort to free the service from a federal court’s decision limiting the Navy’s use of sonar in training exercises.
Environmentalists who had sued successfully to limit the Navy’s use of loud, mid-frequency sonar — which can be harmful to whales and other marine mammals — said yesterday that the exemptions were unprecedented and could lead to a larger legal battle over the extent to which the military has to obey environmental laws.
Note to Washington Post headline writers: The word “wins” describing some achievement, in headlines like “Knight Wins 900th Game” or “Innocent Man Wins Stay of Execution,” generally suggests some element of struggle leading up to the event in question. It implies that the achievement in question was earned, and possibly even deserved.
This would not seem to be an appropriate word for a situation in which George Bush issued an executive order exempting the military from environmental execution. “Environmental Group Wins Injunction Against Whale-Killing Sonar” is a reasonable headline for a news story, as is “Navy Is Granted Exemption From Environmental Laws,” but “Navy Wins Exemption from Bush” creates a false impression among native speakers of English.