Resist the official pol-speak of Bush's 'war on terror' -- Simon Tisdall

[Khephra]

Resist the official pol-speak of Bush's 'war on terror'

From 'civilisation' to 'WMD', words are weapons in the global crusade

Simon Tisdall
Tuesday November 4, 2003
The Guardian

Second world war posters warning that "careless talk costs lives" embodied an enduring truth. Then the fear was that fifth columnists might overhear conversations of value to the Nazis. Elsie: "Can you take the kids to the park?" Herbert: "Sorry, ducks, it's D-day. I'll be invading Normandy all week." The equivalent US slogan was "loose lips sink ships".

Sixty years on, in another era of conflict, the careless talk comes more often from politicians - but it is potentially just as deadly. When George Bush, soon after September 11, referred to a "crusade" against al-Qaida, he helped persuade Muslims that they were under renewed attack from Richard the Lionheart in a US navy bomber jacket. In the context of a mooted "clash of civilisations", Bush's loose use of language was not only insensitive. It was unthinkingly reckless.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1077269,00.html