Will the War on Terror become the Tower of Babel?
By Simon Sole
1 Apr 2003
Language is important. Most military officers will remember tedious pedantry over certain tactical terms ('enfilade/defilade', 'vital ground/key terrain', etc).We submitted to that pedantry because without clear definitions orders would be unclear and therefore unsafe. How odd it is, then, that the language of the War on Terror, in the broadest sense, is so unclear that some words carry almost no meaning, or are wilfully misused. Assumption, the mother of all confusion, is rife. From confusion quickly follows unjustified fear, in the case of the general population. The debate needs some discipline, argues Simon Sole.
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1 Apr 2003
Language is important. Most military officers will remember tedious pedantry over certain tactical terms ('enfilade/defilade', 'vital ground/key terrain', etc).We submitted to that pedantry because without clear definitions orders would be unclear and therefore unsafe. How odd it is, then, that the language of the War on Terror, in the broadest sense, is so unclear that some words carry almost no meaning, or are wilfully misused. Assumption, the mother of all confusion, is rife. From confusion quickly follows unjustified fear, in the case of the general population. The debate needs some discipline, argues Simon Sole.
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