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:: Tuesday, August 01, 2006 ::
Spinmeisters to the Front in the Hezbollahwar
As always, spinmeisters are on top of events as the Hezbollahwar in Lebanon unfolds in prime time.
Only by understanding the spin can one follow the bouncing bombs. Additions to the world lexicography of war spinspeak include:
asymmetrical war = softsoap technogook based on the same mindset as exhibited by the proverbial child who killed his parents and then throws himself on the mercy of the court as an orphan.*
immediate ceasefire = peaceniktalk for you quit while we rearm.
proportional response = peaceniktalk for gpoing easy and ineffectually on an enemy who says he wants to obliterated you as soon as he can swing it.
degrade = military softspeak that could mean battering an enemy sufficiently so that he can’t fight again for a long, long time; but also could be spin for implying that but actually doing a lot less.
peacekeeper = plastertalk inflator for what once were combat troops under bumbling UN command with faulty rules of engagement;** now non-combative bureaucratic troops under UN command who neither keep the peace nor clearly observe its violation.
* One side fights in uniform, minimizes killing non-combatant civilians (e,g., warns them in advance to get out of the way), does not use women and children as human shields and does not use hospitals and houses of worship for storing munitions or launching missiles. The other side hides in civilian clothes, maximizes killing all non-combatants, keeps its civilians in the front lines preferably where the media can photograph their bodies, finds houses of worship ideal as ammo dumps and launch pads.
**Earlier definition in Spinspeak II: The Dictionary of Language Pollution
:: James Baar 8/01/2006 01:29:00 PM [+] ::
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