“Peacekeeping operations”

I was disheartened this morning to hear the announcer at a nearby NPR affiliate say that Vladimir Putin “has begun peacekeeping operations in Ukraine.” So I called the station and left a message, suggesting that the phrasing be changed to “what he calls peacekeeping operations.” An hour later the announcer said that Putin “has sent troops to Ukraine.” The change might be coincidental.

As many people have already pointed out, every journalist who refers to “peacekeeping operations in Ukraine,” without attributing that language to the Russian state, is doing Vladimir Putin’s work. Totalitarian euphemism should never get a pass.

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Wow: two return calls, and an assurance that they’re going to be more careful about the phrasing.