I know the adjective "Orwellian" is used too much
But sometimes you need to drag it out. This time it's the BBC news trying to choke down the latest buffet of insanity from our military in Iraq:
IRAQ 'REVERSE SURGE' PLAYS ON U.S. MINDS
There are a few gems, but this one stands out for me:
"US commanders are reluctant to allow the backward momentum of the reverse-surge process to merge seamlessly into a wholesale withdrawal of American forces"
What the hell does that mean? Mostly, it means that they don't really want to pull the troops out yet. Or maybe ever. So the pull-out of troops is now a "reverse surge" and since the "surge" was a "good thing" this means we should be really careful and probably not do it! And we don't want it to "merge seamlessly" into an actual withdrawal. In other words, because we're not "surging" we should not leave for an undetermined time, because that would be, well, bad. Got it?
This is that rare and beautiful news story in which every single item is a lie. An easy way to fix it up would be to replace each paragraph with this: "There is blood everywhere and no plan."
I'll sell t-shirts! Meanwhile, as Orwell put it, "The fascist octopus has sung its swan song, and the jackboot is in the melting pot."
GO READ HIM NOW and every week from now on, so you can understand the weird stuff in the news. It's a short little essay and people forget how important it is.
IRAQ 'REVERSE SURGE' PLAYS ON U.S. MINDS
There are a few gems, but this one stands out for me:
"US commanders are reluctant to allow the backward momentum of the reverse-surge process to merge seamlessly into a wholesale withdrawal of American forces"
What the hell does that mean? Mostly, it means that they don't really want to pull the troops out yet. Or maybe ever. So the pull-out of troops is now a "reverse surge" and since the "surge" was a "good thing" this means we should be really careful and probably not do it! And we don't want it to "merge seamlessly" into an actual withdrawal. In other words, because we're not "surging" we should not leave for an undetermined time, because that would be, well, bad. Got it?
This is that rare and beautiful news story in which every single item is a lie. An easy way to fix it up would be to replace each paragraph with this: "There is blood everywhere and no plan."
I'll sell t-shirts! Meanwhile, as Orwell put it, "The fascist octopus has sung its swan song, and the jackboot is in the melting pot."
GO READ HIM NOW and every week from now on, so you can understand the weird stuff in the news. It's a short little essay and people forget how important it is.