Although there is still some controversy as to whether Arnett misrepresented for the purposes of journalistic 'propagandising' or hyperbole the source for his indelible maxim, there can be no doubt that literally hundreds of villages, hamlets and towns were destroyed in 'Nam. Given that metaphorically at least, America seems hell bent in a 'larger' context and over the longer term on destroying its own 'village' in order to save it, regardless of the veracity of Arnett's line, the reference is still apposite.
Curiously, Arnett was much later accused by the first Bush administration of "propagandising" against the First Gulf War in Iraq in 1991, a war that we all now know US president George HW Bush manipulatively sold to the world using propaganda of the most devious kind. And even much later Arnett was sacked in 2003 by CNN for 'negative' reporting on the invasion of Iraq in the aftermath of 9/11 -- by credible accounts at the urging of Bush Junior's administration -- at a time when it was not fashionable to critique Dubya's War on Terror in any form or forum. So a little context and perspective is appropriate here as well on both counts.
Which is to say, sound like a familiar scenario? Context and perspective then! What's not to like? As for the much vaunted 'falling dominoes' in South-east Asia during the Vietnam period -- itself the pseudo-philosophical bedrock underpinning US geopolitical strategy for most of the Cold War -- the last time I looked, they were all still standing tall and 'Johnny Walker' strong. Funny about that! Although not necessarily "funny" ha ha.
The Phoenix Had Landed Again
Which is to say, sound like a familiar scenario? Context and perspective then! What's not to like? As for the much vaunted 'falling dominoes' in South-east Asia during the Vietnam period -- itself the pseudo-philosophical bedrock underpinning US geopolitical strategy for most of the Cold War -- the last time I looked, they were all still standing tall and 'Johnny Walker' strong. Funny about that! Although not necessarily "funny" ha ha.
And for one more dose of "context" and "perspective" for good measure, the final word here should go to Valentine himself. In the author's introduction in the original edition of the book published in 1990, he made it clear he wanted to "[Scrutinize] the program and the people who participated in it, [and by] employing the program as a symbol of the dark side of the human psyche, to articulate the subtle ways in which the Vietnam War changed how Americans think about themselves".
In short he was attempting to show way back then how a nation that purports to be one "ruled by laws and an ethic of fair play, could create a program like Phoenix". He further added:
"This book is about terror and its role in political warfare. It will show how, as successive American governments sink deeper and deeper into the vortex of covert operation -- ostensibly to combat..... terrorism and [assorted] insurgencies -- the American people gradually lose touch with the democratic ideals that once defined their national self-concept. This book asks what happens when Phoenix comes home to roost."
Of course his intention then one presumes remains the same, and the following extract appears to support that. Taken from his introduction of the book in its latest edition, dated February 2014, it provides an even more chilling and disturbing perspective on the reality of now and the history that preceded and spawned that reality.
"The Phoenix has landed. The ultimate fusion of bureaucracy and psychological warfare, it serves as the model for America's homeland security apparatus, as well as its global war on terror. This is not a theory. In a paper published in [the] Small Wars Journal in September 2004, [Australian-born] Lt. Col. David Kilcullen called for a 'global Phoenix program'."
And whilst Valentine notes somewhat resignedly that Kilcullen himself would become one of the US Government's top counterinsurgency advisors, he also adds that,
"[Phoenix] terms like 'high-value target' and 'neutralization' are now as common as Phoenix strategies and tactics. And the process of institutionalizing the Phoenix program, conceptually and programmatically, is just beginning."
Sound like another (never-ending) amorality tale from the Land of Hope and Dreams? Something like that. We can all but hope that he is wrong.
To reiterate, none of this is likely to dampen the celebratory mood of the warmongers in Washington and their confreres in the Pentagon in particular. More's the pity I say.
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