“Doublespeak embedded in a convenient matrix of anticommunist ideology was essential, as the U. S. establishment was obliged to pretend (or internalize the belief) that the huge global expansion of the U. S. political economy on which they had embarked was “defensive” and responsive to some external threat; that we were “containing” somebody else who was committing “aggression” and threatening our “national security.” The words and phrases “defense,” “containment,” “aggression,” and “national security” are core items of the doublespeak lexicon, essential ingredients of the ink squirted out by imperial cuttlefish.”

— Edward S. Herman

Source: Beyond Hypocrisy, 1992, p. 20.

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American journalist 1925–2017

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