Incursion
Posted in Events dear boy. Events, Linguistic Annoyances at 20:00 on 8 January 2009
An incursion.
Doesnât sound so terrible does it? Itâs as if it describes something inadvertent. (Oops, I strayed over a border. I didnât mean to do that!) Itâs almost cuddly.
But my Chambers gives it only as:- a hostile inroad: the action of running in: a sudden attack, invasion.
Not so cuddly after all.
It is in fact an act of aggression.
So why is the news being so mealy-mouthed about this?
Why, even before it happened, was the Israel move into Gaza being called by this less emotive word?
To ask the question is to get the answer. It makes an act of war seem less than that. It defines that act as more acceptable. It attempts to legitimise the bloodshed.
My opinion is that bloodshed is never acceptable: no matter who sheds it. Bombs and tanks in Gaza, rockets on Ashkelon, air strikes on Baghdad; all are equally immoral.
Call a spade a spade.
Itâs war. Nothing less. It doesn’t deserve to be sanitised.
Tags: Linguistic Annoyances
jimmy cormack
14 January 2009 at 20:59
It takes 2 to tango. My question is – are hamas stupid? Anybody could have forecast that if the islamist mysogynists lobbed enough rockets into Israel then the Israelis would, sooner or later, retaliate.
So why are so many people surprised? This is Israel we are talking about here. The state of paranoia. Most of their neighbours want to wipe them out and they act accordingly. When you get the impression that their spokespeople dont seem to bother about how many civilians are killed you’re probably right.
I’m just like the other man, I’m outraged by the sight of small children being blown apart by one of the most efficient military machines in the world. But the Palestinians in Gaza are being led by donkeys who are into martyrdom and all that.
Islamic fascism is the biggest threat to world peace and the donkeys’ apologists like George Galloway just aid and abett them. Usefool fools indeed, as Lenin once said.
jackdeighton
14 January 2009 at 21:38
“Islamic fascism is the biggest threat to world peace.”
I doubt that. Oil running out is a more likely catalyst for war.
I’d also put possible food shortages, and conflict arising from climate change before any threat from Islamists.
But they’ll all get mixed in together.