At the UN, Whatever You Do, Don’t Mention the War

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Russian Collusion fans have had a hard time of it lately, as their favorite theories about how the evil mastermind Putin installed his dimwitted stooge Trump in the Oval Office have been exploded, but that ever-vigilant guardian of global peace, the United Nations, is ready to fill in the breach. The United Nations’ Department of Global Communications has ordered its staffers not to refer to Ukraine war as a “war,” or to Putin’s invasion as an “invasion.” If you still thought the UN was some sort of impartial international arbiter, this ought to disabuse you of that notion forever.

The director of the UN Regional Information Centre sent an email to its staff on Monday, with the subject line “Ukraine crisis communications guidelines.” According to Irish Times, which saw the email, foremost among these guidelines read more like a command: “Do NOT add the Ukrainian flag to personal or official social media accounts or websites.” The email also offered “some specific examples of language to use/not use at the moment. Use ‘conflict’ or ‘military offensive’ and NOT ‘war’ or ‘invasion’ when referring to the situation in Ukraine.”

This was right out of Vladimir Putin’s playbook, as he doesn’t call what Russian tanks rolling into Ukraine an “invasion” either; instead, he likes to call it a “special military operation,” a bit of linguistic legerdemain on par with Old Joe Biden calling requirements the voters show identification when voting “Jim Crow 2.0”: just as cynical, just as dishonest, just as deceptive.

The Regional Information Centre situated these directives as adherence to the UN’s policy of neutrality: “This is an important reminder that we, as international civil servants, have a responsibility to be impartial. There is a serious possibility of reputational risk that has been flagged by senior officials recently.” This was more than a little hypocritical, as the UN has frequently condemned acts of aggression by member states. It routinely singles out Israel for particular condemnation, virtually all of it unjustified, and has never felt constrained from doing so by its “responsibility to be impartial.”

Russia, however, is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, and the UN is clearly wary of crossing it. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated: “It’s hard to believe that the UN could essentially impose the same kind of censorship that the Kremlin imposes inside Russia now by banning the use of the words ‘war’ and ‘invasion.’ UN reputation at stake.”

Indeed it is. But kowtowing to Putin is not the image that this august organization wishes to project, however, and so when this email became public the UN was quick to disavow it, but did not appear to have its story straight. UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric stated: “I don’t dispute the validity of that email but it can not be considered official policy to staff.”

There is more. Read the rest here.