It must be so difficult to go into work at the U.N., knowing that there are so many haters out there who think your agency isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
The only thing that could possibly make it even more difficult is knowing that the haters are exactly right.
As Vladimir Putin presses on with his crusade to crush Ukraine, here’s what the U.N. is contributing to global discourse:
Exclusive: the United Nations has banned its staff from using the words "war" or "invasion" to refer to the situation in Ukraine, the Irish Times has learnedhttps://t.co/o3tseMf6Mh
— Naomi O'Leary (@NaomiOhReally) March 8, 2022
If it’s not a war, and it’s not an invasion … what is it? A water balloon fight? A game of checkers?
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UN staff were instructed not to use "war" or "invasion" and to use "conflict" or "military offensive" instead, according to an internal email seen by the Irish Times.
It comes as the Kremlin cracks down on the use of the same words within Russia https://t.co/o3tseMf6Mh pic.twitter.com/rylBseiKo8— Naomi O'Leary (@NaomiOhReally) March 8, 2022
So, if we’re understanding this correctly, the U.N. is taking their cues from Vladimir Putin. Great work, everyone.
"The fact is just because Russia is a big country that has an essential role in the UN, they’re influencing policy in a direction that’s simply false," said @nealerichmond.
Ireland has lobbied against the system that grants Russia a Security Council veto. https://t.co/o3tseMf6Mh— Naomi O'Leary (@NaomiOhReally) March 8, 2022
Good for Ireland. At least someone at the U.N. has a problem with this.
Iconic, UN food agency FAO warned on Friday that wheat prices were rising "amidst disruptions in the Black Sea region"https://t.co/kL6KjIAegb pic.twitter.com/FrZKYkTXLm
— Naomi O'Leary (@NaomiOhReally) March 8, 2022
“Amidst disruption in the Black Sea region” is certainly iconic, but not in anything remotely resembling a positive sense.
Russian officials don't use "invasion" and prefer "special military operation".
Media regulator Roskomnadzor ordered news outlets to delete reporting using “assault” “invasion" or “declaration of war” or risk fines on Feb 26
It was the start of a crackdown https://t.co/o3tseMf6Mh— Naomi O'Leary (@NaomiOhReally) March 8, 2022
When does the crackdown on the U.N. start? Because we’ve been ready for that for a long time, and now seems like as good a time as any.
Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General asserts that humanity is waging war on nature. https://t.co/yT1yN75zXc https://t.co/6fUE4GNjTn
— Kent Lassman (@KentatCEI) March 8, 2022
Mais oui!
Is this some kind of sick joke? @UN @Ukraine https://t.co/1kvJUQBaWr
— Arsen Ostrovsky (@Ostrov_A) March 8, 2022
It’s about as sick as a sick joke can be.
If this reporting is true, it’s appalling. https://t.co/F0uGGkPp6X
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) March 8, 2022
Reductive to the point of absurdity.
While clearly a misguided attempt to be impartial, this choice of words explicitly suits the narrative of one party in this conflict. That is not impartiality. https://t.co/5br8Fnrx6F
— Nick Waters (@N_Waters89) March 8, 2022
A child died of dehydration yesterday because russians hold thousands of people hostage in mariupol. ukrainians are still living in bomb shelters because theyre bombing hospitals schools and residential areas but of course its just a conflict ❤️🙏 https://t.co/9kez0nQaXd
— 💋🇺🇦 (@prismpatia) March 8, 2022
The UN is a joke https://t.co/Lc9Bk0tvnV
— Sean Agnew (@seanagnew) March 8, 2022
What a useless body.
United Nations bans staff from using ‘war’ or ‘invasion’ regarding Ukraine https://t.co/gyYDVNtze9 via @IrishTimes
— Kimberly Ross 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@SouthernKeeks) March 8, 2022
It is an invasion and a war. The @UN is proving itself to be even more useless than most people already thought it was. #SlavaUkraine https://t.co/4IevOfr0yv
— Gregg Housh (@GreggHoush) March 8, 2022
The UN is broken.
— Robert Vinet 🇨🇦 🇺🇦 (@RobertVinet) March 8, 2022
Impartiality should at least be factually correct. The #UnitedNations has become meaningless in my eyes. I can't believe this is happening in my lifetime. https://t.co/XGrhRjxjNj
— That Ube Girl 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 (@SaraKDonaldson1) March 8, 2022
Wow. This is absolutely outrageous. What a useless institution the UN has proved to be at this critical moment. It was literally talking to itself at the very moment Putin was announcing his INVASION. Now this. As the Brits say: not fit for purpose. https://t.co/GaIzy2hszf
— Ilya Lozovsky (@ichbinilya) March 8, 2022
The U.N. is just not fit, period.
Defund the UN https://t.co/ziteiwIZTz
— (((Fat Man In An Overcoat))) (@FatsOvercoat) March 8, 2022
***
Update:
If you thought that the U.N. had some serious ‘splaining to do before, you’ll love these developments:
Comment to me from UN spokesman: "I don’t dispute the validity of that email but it can not be considered official policy to staff."https://t.co/o3tseMwHDP
— Naomi O'Leary (@NaomiOhReally) March 8, 2022
The UN does not deny that this email was sent to staff, instructing them not to use "war" or "invasion", from their Department of Global Communications, as I reported.
It is doubly Orwellian for them to now accuse me of fake news given they don't deny it https://t.co/o3tseMfEBP pic.twitter.com/tDxDqEPpi1— Naomi O'Leary (@NaomiOhReally) March 8, 2022
I'm struggling to reconcile this statement with the fact that the UN's Department of Global Communications sent an email to staff instructing them not to use "war" or "invasion" https://t.co/HLTlxA0W7l pic.twitter.com/CuZsiVWYuv
— Naomi O'Leary (@NaomiOhReally) March 8, 2022
From a UN employee:
"As an employee of one of the UN agencies I was shocked three times with this guidance – first time when we received the advisory, then when it was retracted… and the last time, when our ombudsman blatantly lied to you on twitter."
More soon on @IrishTimes. pic.twitter.com/xpSLNyGJqK— Naomi O'Leary (@NaomiOhReally) March 8, 2022
We’ve often wondered what the hell is going on at the United Nations. Now, we wonder even more.
OK this story is really weird now. https://t.co/NR9oDl8tZG
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 8, 2022
Guess we should expect it to get weirder, just to be safe.
