Linkage

Back in the 70's and 80's, the term "linkage" was popular. First it was used to refer to requirements that a developer connect his mega-project with something that would benefit the little people--affordable housing or shops for small businesses. Later the word migrated to foreign affairs, as the United States tried to link favored foreign policy ideas (permitting Jews to emigrate freely, for instance) to deals with the Soviet Union.

We don't hear much about linkage anymore, but we hear a great deal about "links." Government officials and agencies tell us about groups or individuals that have "links to terrorists." This morning I heard a report on NPR about Iraqi militias with "links" to politicians and political groups.

What are these "links?" That is never explained. If someone knows a guy who knows a guy who's an Iraqi insurgent, does the first person have a "link" to terrorists? How far do the links go before the chain snaps and one person or group is no longer "linked" to another? Does the link exist only in the verbiage of the person doing the linking?
These "links" remind me of the 1940's and '50's, when people were smeared by being labeled as "fellow travelers" with communism. "Fellow traveler" was fuzzy enough to protect the person doing the smearing, and few took the time or energy to question the term. Was FDR a fellow-traveler, because of his alliance with Stalin's Soviet Union to fight the Nazis? Some people thought he was. What about Churchill--a very conservative politician who backed military action against the Bolsheviks, but who was actually photographed with Stalin on several occasions, sometimes with an amiable expression on his face.

The absurdity of "fellow-traveling" is perhaps best thrown into relief by Churchill's remark that "If Hitler invaded Hell, I would at least make a favorable reference to the Devil in the House of Commons."

(A personal note: I went to school with a young man named Winston Coard, who haled from a Caribbean Island . Twenty years later, I learned that my friend--who had been as conservative as they come, wearing a jacket and and tie to class at Brandeis in the '60's--was Bernard Winston Coard, one of the leaders of the junta that the United States overthrew when we invaded Granada. Some might say that I was "linked" to those radical desperadoes.)

Next time you hear about "links," ask yourself what those links are. If you get a chance, ask the person who's using the word.