Defense Dept. Wins Doublespeak Award for War Terms That Bombed

The Defense Department has been given the annual Doublespeak Award of the National Conference of Teachers of English for such euphemisms as “servicing the target” (bombing) and “force packages” (warplanes).

Other government speakers including Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and President Bush also were recognized Friday for “grossly deceptive” public remarks and “language with pernicious political and social consequences.”

Gulf War phrases that put the Defense Department on top included “soft targets” for people and “hard targets” for buildings.

“The misuse of public language by the Department of Defense merits some form of recognition,” said William Lutz, chairman of the Doublespeak panel, a Rutgers University professor and editor of the Quarterly Review of Doublespeak.

Air Force Col. Rick Oborn, a Pentagon public information specialist, defended the terminology.

“Those aren’t new words,” he said. “ ‘Force package’ indicates you’re going on a mission. ‘Warplane’ doesn’t indicate you’re doing anything.”

Second place went to Gingrich and GOPAC, a Republican group he heads, for a booklet called “Language: A Key Mechanism of Control.”

The booklet suggested that GOP candidates, when speaking of themselves, use such words as “environment, peace, freedom, fair, flag, we-us-our, family and humane.”

When speaking of opponents, words such as “betray, sick, pathetic, lie, liberal, hypocrisy, permissive attitude and self-serving” are more appropriate, it said.

Bush, Secretary of State James A. Baker III and Defense Secretary Dick Cheney shared third place for their comments on arms control.

On May 30, hours after Bush called for “halting the proliferation of conventional and unconventional weapons in the Middle East,” Cheney announced weapon sales to Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, Lutz noted.