The Design of Political Language

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The Design of Political Language


George Orwell said it best when he described political language as being “designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable.” While government missteps are often shielded by classification and fanciful language, many instances of wrongdoing have been uncovered. 

In 2007, the US Military completed an operation in Iraq in which they made the unjustifiable mistake of targeting journalists who they assumed were carrying weapons instead of cameras. 

What the US thought was a group of insurgents, was a group of journalists who worked for Reuters, the news company. Namir Noor-Eldeen and Saeed Chmagh are just a few of the many who were tragically and mistakenly targeted under the assumption that they were a threat to American lives. 

In the video capturing the operation, there are several aspects of the operation that could cause an ordinary viewer to be taken back. Despite the fact that it is a video of “collateral murder” and that alone can be painful to watch, it is very interesting to hear the language used by military personnel during the operation. 

To watch this military operation unfold, click here.

Looking back at George Orwell’s statement on political language, this instance is a prime example of how the government speaks. In the Iraq shooting of Reuters journalists, Military operatives indicate when to shoot by telling 

Platforms like Wikileaks have given journalists the space to publish leaked government information that is usually intended to remain hidden from the public eye. In the interest of national security, I think most people and even journalists, can agree that some operations need to be kept secret. To protect vulnerable sources who provide information to U.S. intelligence, and protect our methods of intelligence collection secrecy is necessary. The issue becomes prevalent when there is wrongdoing that needs to be called out. 







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