Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library
Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library
Chomsky on Anarchism.pdf - Zine Library
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
OBJECTIVITY AND LIBERAL SCHOLARSHIP<br />
ology and quasi-religious motivati<strong>on</strong> of Communist insurgency." It is our<br />
dmy, in the interest of democracy and freedom, to apply our expertise to these<br />
twin goals: " w isolate the enemy and desrroy his influence and c<strong>on</strong>trol over the<br />
rural populati<strong>on</strong>, and to win the peasant's willing support through effective<br />
local administrari<strong>on</strong> and programs of rural improvement." "An underlying<br />
assumpti<strong>on</strong> is that insurgency ought to be defeated-for the sake of human<br />
rights .... " Despite the "remarkable achievements in ec<strong>on</strong>omic and social development"<br />
in Russia and China, "The South Vietnamese peasant deserves something<br />
better," and we must give it w him-as we have in Latin America and<br />
the Philippines-even if this requires aband<strong>on</strong>ing the easy legal isms of the past<br />
and intervening with military fo rce.<br />
Of course, it w<strong>on</strong>'t be easy. The enemy has enormous advamages. For <strong>on</strong>e<br />
thing, "as in China, the insurgents in Vietnam have exploited the C<strong>on</strong>fucian<br />
tenets of ethical rule both by their attacks <strong>on</strong> governmem corrupti<strong>on</strong> and by<br />
exemplary Communist behavior"; and "the Viet-C<strong>on</strong>g inherited, after Geneva,<br />
much of the popular support and sympathies previously attached to the Viet<br />
Minh in the Somh." After the fall of Diem, matters became still worse: " ... vast<br />
regi<strong>on</strong>s that had been under government c<strong>on</strong>trol quickly came under the influence<br />
of the Viet-C<strong>on</strong>g." By late 1964 the pacificati<strong>on</strong> of Quang Nam Province<br />
had become "all but impossible," and the worst of it is that "the battle for<br />
Quang Nam was lost by the governmem to Viet-C<strong>on</strong>g forces recruited for the<br />
20 most part from within the province."22 By 1966, the Vietc<strong>on</strong>g seem so well<br />
emrenched in rural areas that "<strong>on</strong>ly a highly imaginative and comprehensive<br />
counterinsurgency campaign, with nearly perfect executi<strong>on</strong> and substantial<br />
military support, would be capable of dislodging such a powerful and extensive<br />
insurgent apparatus."<br />
A major difficulty we face is [he "progressive social and ec<strong>on</strong>omic results"<br />
shown by the Vietc<strong>on</strong>g efforts. An AID report in March 1965 explains the<br />
problem. Comparing "our 'new life hamlets'" to the Vietc<strong>on</strong>g hamlets, the<br />
report comments as fo llows:<br />
The basic differences are that the VC hamlets are well organized,<br />
clean, ec<strong>on</strong>omically self supporting and have an active defense<br />
system. For example, a c<strong>on</strong>age industry in <strong>on</strong>e hamlet was as<br />
large as has been previously witnessed anywhere in Chu<strong>on</strong>g<br />
Thien province. New canals are being dug and pineapples are<br />
under cultivati<strong>on</strong>. The VC also have a relocati<strong>on</strong> program for<br />
younger families. These areas coincide with the areas JUSt outside<br />
the planned GVN sphere of imeresL Unless the USOM/GVN<br />
accivicies exhibit a more qualitative basis [sic], there is little likelihood<br />
of changing the present anirudes of the people. For<br />
example, in <strong>on</strong>e area <strong>on</strong>ly five kilometers from the province capital,<br />
the people refused medical assistance offered by ARVN<br />
medics.