F Bombs Over Europe

By Charles Pierce, Esquire

08 February 14

s it turns out, there are many ways to say, "Fuck The EU." Millions of Greeks say it every day. They turn in the general direction of Angela Merkel, order up some ouzo, and in the language of Plato and Euripides, say, "Hey, fuck the EU!" The people in Iceland and Ireland say, "Fuck the EU," by putting bankers on trial and, in the case of Iceland, in jail. And every day, Vladimir Putin, the World's Host for the next two weeks, is saying "Fuck the EU" with armored vehicles and firearms, and he would like the Ukrainian people to say it, too, but they have thus far declined, preferring instead to say, "Fuck Vladimir Putin and our own government."

None of these, however, have caused the flap over the fact that Victoria Nuland, an assistant secretary of state, has caused by saying "Fuck the EU" over her telephone, which had been tapped, and her conversation was then leaked to the world.

In the audio, voices resembling those of Nuland and Pyatt discuss international efforts to resolve Ukraine's ongoing political crisis. At one point, the Nuland voice colorfully suggests that the EU's position should be ignored. "F--- the EU," the female voice said.

Nuland has apologized for being undiplomatic on a phone that shouldn't have been tapped in a world where private conversations shouldn't be leaked. But it is a bit of a window into the absolute futility of diplomatic language in diplomatic situations. Diplomatic language exists so that diplomats have 100 ways of saying what millions of people are saying anyway. Victoria Nuland speaks for more people than she knows.