"It became necessary to destroy the village to save it."

[lovuian]

The art of destroying, in order to save
http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=6d354defd05f8881

One infamous line from the Vietnam War was, "It became necessary to destroy the village to save it."

The Bush Administration has carried this thinking to stratospheric heights. Here are some pointed examples.

Destroying Freedom To Save It: The Orwellian absurdity of the Patriot Act, destroying freedom to save it from evildoers, goes unchallenged in American media and politics. Our government claims the right to infringe on any and all civil liberties; engage in warrant-less wiretaps; peek at our email messages, book purchases and library withdrawals; and enter our homes all without even the minimal oversight from FISA. Spying on citizens is deemed "Homeland Security."

This administration claims the right to imprison people without access to the outside world, family or counsel. Lest Americans think this applies only to foreign "bad guys" Halliburton's KBR subsidiary is building detention centers across the nation to hold tens of thousands of people. Bill Bennett has just blustered that the U.S. ought roll out the Espionage Act again and prosecute for treason reporters who criticize or expose facts about the Bush administration. Our nation is being pushed beyond normal politics. Conservatives and liberals alike should be concerned. Critics (including these authors) are likely already on watch lists.

Destroying Iraq To Save It: To save Iraqis from a tyrant whom we created we have destroyed their infrastructure and killed thousands of Iraqis whose lives we, and they, were told would improve. Post-invasion deaths attributable to the war have exceeded those from the ravages of Saddam. Their right to vote is overshadowed by daily miseries, fear, death via sectarian violence or U.S. military air strikes, sickness from devastated water and healthcares systems, and constant frustrations from lack of everyday resources
more...

Bush isn't the decider He's the Destroyer!!! Theres a pattern emerging!!!

[alcibiades_mystery]

1. Ben Tre wasn't a village

It was a largish town, the capital of Ben Tre province.

[American Tragedy]

4. I had heard that the exact quote was apocryphal

though it is certainly an apt description of the mentality in play.

To whom exactly is it attributed?

[alcibiades_mystery]

5. It was reported by Peter Arnett on February 7, 1968

It was attributed to an anonymous major.

Clearly, they could identify the major who gave it to him, but nobody ever has.

[exlrrp]

13. The actual quote

from wikipedia

"Arnett quoting a U.S. army officer in Vietnam, when asked about the background for the use of much heavy artillery against a small village.
"We had to destroy the village in order to save it."

[alcibiades_mystery]

14. That's not the actual quote

That's somebody quoting the actual quote, and doing it incorrectly. The actual quote used the word "town" rather than "village," and quite rightly, since Ben Tre (and the quote is about Ben Tre) wasn't a small village, but a medium sized town, and the provincial capital. Arnett, who had covered the war since 1962, surely knew Ben Tre, as did any army major directing artillery against it.

Please link to the wikipedia page you're quoting there so I can correct their mistake.

[blogslut]

16. According to this article by Arnett

"The Major with us asked: "How could this happen?" A soldier replied: "Sir, we had to destroy the town to save it."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12795678&method=full

As for the misquote on the Wiki page, it's here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Arnett

Side note: Arnett sure got screwed when he made the mistake of reporting a less-than-sunny opinion of our recent venture into Iraq.

[Oversea Visitor]

2. Yup

He is destroying America to save it.

Also destroying Republican Party to save it.

[madokie]

8. yea, I like your last sentence

he is destroying America to gain world dominance for his pnac friends, me thinks

[Oversea Visitor]

9. World Dominance

:rofl: :rofl:

He turn US into the most hated REGIME of the world. :rofl: World Dominance :rofl:

[babylonsister]

3. He's not the decider, he's the destroyer, and the pattern is obvious.

Thank you, lovuian, for your clarity.

[lovuian]

6. and let not forget Fallujah that paragraph stands out...

"destroying to save" is Fallujah. The U.S. tried either to round up or kill the able-bodied men in Fallujah by bombing everyone out of the town, and then driving the men back into it so they could be bombed some more. We leveled Fallujah in 2004 and remain intent on rearranging the rubble.

and yet the war is worse now than ever

[shadowknows69]

7. This is the same kind of Cold War thinking that gave us

the idea that a full scale nuclear war might be necessary for "America" to survive. As if anything would.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

10. K & R. nt.

[radfringe]

11. another way to look at the boy-king wars

"it takes a child to RAZE a villiage..."

[cassiepriam]

12. The invasion was never about freedom, it is about oil, power and money,

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

15. We had to nuke Iran to save it

Busholinni, June 2006.