RE: [Marxism] Prologue in the Philippines: when torturers boasted

["David McDonald" <dbmcdonald@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

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From: marxism-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:marxism-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of lshan@xxxxxxx
Sent: Monday, May 10, 2004 3:53 PM
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Subject: [Marxism] Prologue in the Philippines: when torturers boasted


While psy-war included propaganda and disinformation, it also relied on
terror tactics of a demonstrative nature. An Army psy-war pamphlet,
drawing
on Lansdale's experience in the Philippines, advocated "exemplary
criminal
violence -- the murder and mutilation of captives and the display of
their
bodies," according to Michael McClintock's Instruments of Statecraft.

In his memoirs, Lansdale boasted of one legendary psy-war trick used
against
the Huks who were considered superstitious and fearful of a vampire-like
creature called an asuang.

Reply:

When I worked in what has become Nucor Steel's Seattle plant I had a
foreman, the nicest guy you would ever want to meet, who told us all one
night that he participated in cutting off the ears of dead enemy
soldiers. He explained that it was done in order to exploit the
Vietnamese' fears of the supernatural, i.e. it would make the US
soldiers' jobs easier. I suspect that most terror and torture is thusly
motivated. But, really, who is superstitious in the case of corpse
desecration? Who is attempting to perform magic?

David McDonald


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