British ministers and civil servants have decided to stop using the phrase “War on Terror.” Apparently it gives terrorists a “shared identity”, according to Hilary Benn, Britain’s Development Secretary, and strengthens disaffected groups by making them feel part of something “bigger.” How long will it take GWB and JWH to follow suit?
Terrorism: as dangerous as a bathtub
Over-hyping “the threat of terrorism” is one of the more obscene reality-distortions being committed by our current government and its Washington and London counterparts.
This is well-documented. But nowhere is it made more clear than in this statistic:
Excepting a few particularly bad years, the annual number of deaths from terrorism worldwide since the late 1960s, when the [US] State Department started record-keeping, is only about the same as the number of Americans who drown every year in bathtubs.
Now for a quick crash course in how terrorism works…
Odd ideas about “Freedom”
This is what George W Bush said at the Bob Riley for Governor lunch in Alabama yesterday:
There is an Almighty, and a gift of that Almighty to every man, woman and child on the face of the Earth is freedom.
And this, apparently, is part of his argument for legislation which intends to legitimise evidence gained through torture, create “military commissions” where hearsay is admissible as evidence and other “tools necessary to protect the American people in this war on terror” and keep people like David Hicks imprisoned without charge or trial for another four years.
Ah yes, freedom…
The whole speech is worth reading because it’s a fine example of how to do propaganda. And perhaps I’ll write more about that another time, if anyone’s interested?
Or would more Steve Irwin jokes be more suitable?
“War on Terror” Doublespeak
For some fine examples of how language is being manipulated in the War on Terror, try the Cato Institute briefing paper Doublespeak and the War on Terrorism. This 16-page report is very readable, and somewhat disturbing. Read on for some of my favourites…
al-Zarqawi Who?
Small-c christian Father Bob Maguire puts the assassination of al-Zarqawi in context.
Clash of Taste leads to Detention
My friend Richard will disagree, but if phone salesman Harraj Mann was singing along to The Clash’s London Calling then I think he deserves to be hauled off and questioned.
“Safety is paramount and we respond to concerns from members of the public in the way they would expect us to,” said a Durham Police spokeswoman. Too right.