DOUBLESPEAK IN THE WAR ON TERROR by Timothy Lynch

"Americans must recognize these odious tactics for what they are and remain vigilant about our constitution and individual liberty. Too many people seem to think that the Constitution will automatically check the government from overstepping its authority and running amok. That simply is not true. The Constitution is incapable of enforcing itself. The ultimate limit on the power of government has always been the patience of the people."


www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=6699
[link to www.cato.org]

September 19, 2006


Doublespeak in the War on Terror


by Timothy Lynch


SNIP


Editor's note: Following is an excerpt from a Cato Institute white paper on the Bush administration's use of propaganda to advance its anti-terror agenda. Timothy Lynch, an analyst at the Libertarian think-tank, wrote the paper, presented here in an edited form.


Five years have passed since the catastrophic terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Those attacks ushered in the war on terror. Since some high-ranking government officials and pundits are now referring to the war on terror as the "Long War" or "World War III," because its duration is not clear, now is an appropriate time to take a few steps back and examine the disturbing new vocabulary that has emerged from this conflict.

One of the central insights of George Orwell's classic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four concerned the manipulative use of language, which he called "newspeak" and "doublethink," and which we now call "doublespeak" and "Orwellian."

That novel tells the story of a totalitarian state in which government agents monitor all aspects of citizens' lives. The three doublespeak slogans of the state are seen on posters everywhere: 1. War Is Peace; 2. Freedom Is Slavery; 3. Ignorance Is Strength.

By corrupting the language, the people who wield power are able to fool the others about their activities and evade responsibility and accountability. Professor William Lutz, author of The New Doublespeak, notes: "Doublespeak is language that pretends to communicate but really doesn't. It is language that makes the bad seem good, the negative appear positive, the unpleasant appear attractive or at least tolerable. Doublespeak is language that avoids or shifts responsibility, language that is at variance with its real or purported meaning. It is language that conceals or prevents thought; rather than extending thought, doublespeak limits it."

It is true, of course, that dishonesty has always been a part of the human experience, but doublespeak is a pernicious variation of dishonesty. Doublespeak perverts the basic function of language, which is to facilitate a common understanding between human beings.


Homeland security


After 9/11, lobbyists and politicians quickly recognized that the best way to secure legislative approval for a spending proposal is to package the idea as a "homeland security" measure even if the expenditure has nothing to do with our national defense. Here are few examples of "homeland security" spending:


$250,000 will be spent by city officials in Newark, N.J., for air-conditioned garbage trucks.

$557,400 will be spent on communications equipment by town officials in North Pole, Alaska.

$100,000 will be spent by the city government of the District of Columbia to send sanitation workers to Dale Carnegie classes. According to government officials, the classes will help sanitation workers develop the skills that will be necessary to deal with panicky customers in the aftermath of a disaster.

$900,000 will be spent on the Steamship Authority in Massachusetts, which runs ferries to Martha's Vineyard. When asked about the hefty expenditure, the local harbormaster confessed, "Quite honestly, I don't know what we're going to do, but you don't turn down grant money."



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