War of Words

One of the casualties of the Viet Nam War sometimes seems to be the English language. Thus the South Vietnamese invasion into Laos has evoked some zealously euphemistic official prose. Although no newsmen were allowed to accompany the operation, it was clear that Saigon's troops were not only killing thousands of North Vietnamese soldiers but also taking devastating casualties themselves, and in some instances retreating in bloody disorder (see THE WORLD). Pentagon analysts called it "a rearguard action under medium pressure," and some Saigon briefers spoke of it as "redeployment"--a word that suggests the shuffling of papers from IN basket to OUT basket. One South Vietnamese general, obviously an apt student of the language, explained it as "normal troop rotation."

Another rule of political language dictates the judicious use of silence. Thus last week Labor Secretary James Hodgson announced that henceforth the professional statisticians of the Bureau of Labor Statistics may no longer brief the press regarding monthly figures on inflation and unemployment. The decision, Hodgson said, was made in consultation with the White House "to avoid awkwardness to the professional staff that might result from policy questions." There is more than a suspicion among Washington newsmen that the "awkwardness" has arisen simply because the BLS professionals have in the past explained some disconcerting economic truths that conflicted with official optimism on the economy. The Laotian invasion may yet turn out to be as satisfactory as the Pentagon sees it, and the recession (which the Administration long refused to call by that name) may prove to be near its end. But when either event finally happens, will the bureaucrats have any believable words left to describe it?

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