THE GUARDIAN — OPINION: Military euphemisms can be deadly. Yet the brutal rhetoric of the US and Israel is proving still more lethal
“Metaphors can kill,” the linguist George Lakoff wrote in an influential essay on the Gulf war. “The use of a metaphor with a set of definitions becomes pernicious when it hides realities in a harmful way.” He described the effects of the US employment of business cost-and-benefit analogies, sporting comparisons and the fairytale of the just war with heroes and villains.
All veiled the reality of conflict. Euphemism was long the preferred choice for the US military. Spokespeople discussed “collateral damage” rather than civilian deaths and “surgical strikes”, framing destruction as both precise and part of a necessary and ultimately healing process. Donald Trump chooses naked menace instead. This week he issued a genocidal threat against Iran, having previously threatened to bomb it “back to the stone age” and destroy bridges and power plants – schools and medical facilities having already been pulverised. He said that he was “not at all” concerned about potential war crimes. » | Editorial | Friday, April 10, 2026
I condemn Donald Trump in the strongest possible terms. I also condemn the clueless Americans who put Donald Trump into office. When it comes to politics, economics, and geopolitics, Donald Trump is totally clueless. He is also a know-nothing. When did he last read a book? Has he ever read a book? As for his disgusting comments on Iran, they show us all how depraved Donald Trump is.
Iran can boast of its civilisation being more than 7,000 year old! Please remind me… What is America celebrating this year? Ah! That’s it… Its 250th anniversary! Hardly a comparison can be made between these two at all! The USA is a mere upstart when it comes to civilisation.
After those dreadful comments made by Donald Trump about the annihilation of Iran/Persia, the powers-that-be in America should start thinking about removing this dangerous man from office. For the sake of the world, and also for the sake of America. Only a person with diminished mental faculties would utter something so crass and awful about a nation and its people. — © Mark Alexander
