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Show Page 8 The UTAH INDEPENDENT February 25, 1972 Doublecross military grounds. Yet six weeks prior to the incident at My Lai the United States Government did order American planes to bomb the South Vietnamese capital of Saigon, on the excuse that some Communist guerrillas were thought to be among the civilian population in the parts Continued Fronri Page 7 ington Post and other Establishment media) gave the purloined documents maximum national coverage and publicity. This despite the fact that the papers were classified top secret. And while on the subject of Vietnam, it is well to recall the of the city which were bombed.6 Thousands of innocent women and children were killed as a result. They were anticommunists. A few weeks before the My Lai affair, the Communists captured the city of Hue, in South Vietnam. Days afterward, when there was no heat of battle, they calmly proceeded to slaughter over five thousand civilians in cold blood. In many instances, the victims were buried while still alive. And the American government, press, and television gave the atrocity such little publicity that it is doubtful one person in a thousand in the United States even knew anything about it. The five thousand victims case of Lt. William Calley in light of the following brief historical synopsis which dates from World War II: For three days, starting on the night of February 13, 1945, the German city of Dresden was subjected to massive and indiscriminate firebombing by Allied .forces under the control of Su- preme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower. Dresden had no military value, and was in fact such an open city that it didnt even have any air raid shelters. The military war in Europe was already over for all practical purposes, and no advance warning was given to the mostly civilian population of Dresden. The number of people killed, most of them were helpless women and children, far exceeded the number killed at Hiroshima six months later. They And were a even was never there suggestion made of bringing anyone to trial for these murders, at or anywhere else. At Hiroshima, the first wartime use of the atomic bomb killed some seventy thousand people. It was a needless action, for the Japanese had for months been making surrender overtures on the same terms that were eventually accepted. Hiroshima had little (if any) military significance. Its inhabitants were And no one suggested making the responsible American officials stand trial, at Nuremberg or anywhere else. In 1961, the United Nations sent its forces into the Katanga Province of the Congo, where they kept the peace by deliberately bombing hospitals, firing bazookas at ambulances, and mercilessly killing countless unnon-Communis- were g non-Communis- ts. armed non-combata- civilians, nt anti-Communis- ts. And then, My Lai and Lt. Calley. One platoon of American infantry, fighting a bitter battle which had already caused many of their number to be killed or wounded, invaded an area which they had been told in advance was anest of Vietcong guerrillas. It was widely known that Song My village was a Vietcong stronghold (it was nicknamed Pinkville for that reason), and that the province of My Lai was a Vietcong base. All natives in the area had received advance warning, and there was 'no excuse for any women or children being in My Lai except those who were a part of, or in sympathy with, the Vietcong. It was also known that booby traps detonated by aged women, or young children, can kill as mercilessly and effectively as those Comtriggered by military-ag- e munists. So the American platoon obeyed its orders to destroy this and later found Vietcong base itself enveloped by one of the most monstrous and massive ts. Nur-embur- pro-Commun- including women and children. The victims were And the atrocities were as the regrettable but passed-of- f inevitable necessities of war. In Vietnam, American pilots were prohibited from bombing Hanoi, the capital of Communist ist are and should be free. They desire to manage their own affairs, and they shall do so. But after the votes are tallied, it becomes a different story: . . . when the legislator is fiindeed nally elected ah! then does the tone of bis speech unThe dergo a radical change. people are returned to passiveness, inertness, and unconsciousness; the legislator enters into omnipotence. Now it is for him to initiate, to direct, to Manpropel, and to organize. kind has only to submit; the hour of despotism has struck. We now observe this fatal idea: The people who, during the election, were so wise, so moral, and so perfect, now have no tendencies whatever; or if they have any, they are tendencies that lead downward into de- does be regard the people propaganda when a legislator is to be chosen? Ah, then it is claimed that the people have an instinctive wisdom', they are gifted with campaigns ever waged. Some members of the platoon found themselves on trial for murder, and one Lt. William Calley the finest perception ; their will is always right; the general will cannot err; voting cannot he too universal When it is time to vote, apparently the voter is not to be asked for any guarantee of bis wisdom. His will and capacity to choose wisely are taken for granted. Continuing with the line promoted by the socialists before the election, Bastiat writes: . Can the people be mistaken? Are we not living in an age of enlightenment? What! are the people always to be kept on leashes? Have they not won their rights by great effort and sacrifice? Have they not given ample proof of their intelligence and wisdom? Are they not adults? Are they not capable of judging for themselves? Do they not know what is best for themselves? Is there a class or a man who would be so bold as to set himself above the people, and judge and act for them? No, no, the people was not only persecuted and prosecuted, but convicted. His crime? He had killed Communist civilians during a fire fight in a war zone. The above survey of the hypocrisy and inconsistency of the Left is by no means exhaustive. There are many scores of examples which could be cited. As just one final illustration, consider the attitude Liberal politicians take toward the American voter prior to an election, and compare it with the attitude reflected once the ballot boxes close. During a campaign, Leftist candidates lure support with flattering references to the brilliance and good judgment of the citizenry. But once the election is over, this same citizenry suddenly degenerates, in the eyes of Liberal politicians, into a conglomerate of individuals so stupid and incompetent that they cannot take care of their own medical, housing, or needs without the assistance of government programs. This strange phenomenon is by no means a recent innovation in socialist thinking, nor is it peculiarly American. Frederick Bastiat, the great French writer of the last century, recognized the trait among his own countrys social democrats. In his brilliant essay, The Law, written in 1849, Bastiat observed: What is the attitude of the democrat when political rights are under discussion? How baby-sittin- g r gradation a good point, and one which you may want to keep in mind as our own country enters perhaps its most crucial election Its year. From The Review Of The News, January 5, 1972. Published weekly. Subscription rate $10 per year. 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