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Revenge in Fallujah

By Noam Chomsky at Oct 05, 2004

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A few weeks ago there was a well-reported incident in which a Marine commander who opposed both the attack and the later withdrawal from Fallujah described it with the words "revenge" operation (he didn't call it a massacre). I didn't clip it, but it shouldn't be hard to find. It was well-reported and elicited editorial comment as well. But we hardly needed that. The Marines invaded Fallujah in immediate reaction to the killing of four US military contractors. They didn't try to apprehend those involved, but carried out a large scale attack which was in fact a massacre. That's "revenge", even without the explicit acknowledgment. Just as the killing of the contractors was revenge for the US-Israeli assassination of the quadriplegic cleric Sheikh Yassin (and half a dozen bystanders) outside a Mosque in Gaza a few days earlier. Revenge for 9-11 and operations against US troops in Iraq is a different matter. There have been plenty of reports in the press about attitudes of US soldiers, taking revenge for 9-11. There was a full-page NYT presentation of soldiers with pictures back in the early stages of the invasion, with their comments about why they were eager to fight in Iraq. Much of it was pay-back for 9-11. The basic principle is that all Arabs-Muslims are alike, so even if Iraqis had nothing to do with it, they're responsible. And there have been repeated examples since.

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Re: Revenge in Fallujah

By K, Mr at Jan 03, 2005 21:59 PM
training agency in hominids requires scapegoating to enforce the dehumanizing principles which accompany dealing death. Yankee psychologists use methods of marginalization on soldiers to ease their conscious when they 'cap' one of those 'people'. look at the stats half of that volunteer army serving in the national guard probably have criminal records. this war is a morally defunct war. no cause other than doing your 'duty' and getting that paycheque so you can pay your morgage. if sure half of those recruits never assumed they'd ever do 'time' in battle relying upon good old 'peace' to reign long in americas globalized society.

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Re: Revenge in Fallujah

By Chadrock314, Chadrock at Nov 14, 2004 23:40 PM
I think the article Chomsky was referring to was from the Washington Post's September 21, 2004 edition titled "Marines Bide Their Time In Insurgent-Held Fallujah," pg. A01 Here's the relevent excerpt: Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, who relinquished his command earlier this month, insisted that "the Marines we have there now could crush the city and be done with business in four days." [...] In an interview earlier this month, Conway said he did not believe that the assault on Fallujah, which he said he was ordered to carry out in April after four American security contractors were murdered and mutilated there, was the best course of action. Instead, Conway said he favored targeted operations against insurgents and continued engagement with municipal leaders. "We felt like we had a method that we wanted to apply to Fallujah: that we ought to probably let the situation settle before we appeared to be attacking out of revenge," he said. The offensive, he added, further radicalized a restive city, leading many residents to support the insurgents. "When we were told to attack Fallujah, I think we certainly increased the level of animosity that existed," he said.

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Re: Revenge in Fallujah

By Rogers, Pietros at Oct 10, 2004 07:50 AM
It is chilling to realize the truth of what Dr. Chomsky has written here - these are some of america's "freedom fighters": unthinking, blatently prejudiced machos taking out their agression on a much weaker enemy, who actually has nothing to do with the source of their emotion. But what about those soldiers who are questioning the war at this point (and I'm sure there are many more every day now)what a tragic situation - to realize that you've been completely duped by your leaders into contributing to war crimes, and possibly being wounded or having had friends killed along the way. Somebody has to reach out to these soldiers - some of the most effective voices against Vietnam were soldiers returned from that massacre. We need the same here in 2004.

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Re: Revenge in Fallujah

By Etherdais, Etherdais at Oct 08, 2004 05:44 AM
Well, this certainly doesn't help stifle the impression that some part of the Islamic world keeps getting: "The United States is attacking the Islamic world on multiple fronts". Perhaps this would be a prudent time to ask those who find themselves in faith to "walk the walk", There were a few old ideas about "turning the other cheek" or some such that might be applicable in situations like this.

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By Luckyman3996, Lucky at Oct 07, 2004 19:43 PM
It is sad that nobody is able or willing to stop them attacking other countries for unjustifiable reasons. I usually hear the question "What is the reason of so much hate in moslems to the West?". The answer is so simple: even brothers will forced to hate each other, when their father is threating them absolutely different and that's the case and USA policies to biasedly support Israel and even VETO UN resolutions on behalf of them causes problems. Moslems have not been taught by religious backgroung to hate anyone and Islam is the only religion among the three major minds that accepts that other two are valid and respectable as long as they follow a humane way of life.

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