Vietnam Quotes - Page 29

• What happened in the following years? Well, I think that among the educated classes it stayed the same. You talk about humanitarian intervention, it's like Vietnam was a humanitarian intervention. Among the public, it's quite different.

  Noam Chomsky

  Thinking, Years, Class

  Source: www.counterpunch.org

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Vietnam is absolutely breathtaking. I've never been to that part of the world before and it is an area of such natural beauty.

  Tom Hiddleston

  World, Breathtaking, Natural

  Source: collider.com

  7 Copy quote

  Show source

• What was the invasion of South Vietnam, for example, in 1962, when Kennedy sent the Air Force to bomb South Vietnam and start chemical warfare? That's aggression.

  Noam Chomsky

  Air, Invasion, Example

  Source: progressive.org

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Every book that comes out, every article that comes out, talks about how - while it may have been a "mistake" or an "unwise effort" - the United States was defending South Vietnam from North Vietnamese aggression. And they portray those who opposed the war as apologists for North Vietnam. That's standard to say. The purpose is obvious: to obscure the fact that the United States did attack South Vietnam and the major war was fought against South Vietnam.

  Noam Chomsky

  War, Mistake, Book

  Source: chomsky.info

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The real invasion of South Vietnam which was directed largely against the rural society began directly in 1962 after many years of working through mercenaries and client groups. And that fact simply does not exist in official American history. There is no such event in American history as the attack on South Vietnam. That's gone. Of course, It is a part of real history. But it's not a part of official history.

  Noam Chomsky

  Real, Years, Groups

  Source: chomsky.info

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Most of us who were opposed to the war, especially in the early '60's - the war we were opposed to was the war on South Vietnam which destroyed South Vietnam's rural society. The South was devastated. But now anyone who opposed this atrocity is regarded as having defended North Vietnam. And that's part of the effort to present the war as if it were a war between South Vietnam and North Vietnam with the United States helping the South. Of course it's fabrication. But it's "official truth" now.

  Noam Chomsky

  War, Effort, Atrocities

  Source: chomsky.info

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• The U.S. directed the war against South Vietnam. There was a political settlement in 1954. But in the late '50's the United States organized an internal repression in South Vietnam, not using its troops, but using the local apparatus it was constructing. This was a very significant and very effective campaign of violence and terrorism against the Vietminh - which was the communist-led nationalist force that fought the French. And the Vietminh at that time was adhering to the Geneva Accords, hoping that the political settlement would work out in South Vietnam.

  Noam Chomsky

  War, Work Out, Political

  Source: chomsky.info

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Why was the United States so afraid of an independent South Vietnam? Well, I think the reason again is pretty clear from the internal government documents. Precisely what they were afraid of was that the "takeover" of South Vietnam by nationalist forces would not be brutal. They feared it would be conciliatory and that there would be successful social and economic development - and that the whole region might work.

  Noam Chomsky

  Independent, Successful, Thinking

  Source: chomsky.info

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Suppose Vietnam could separate itself from the American dominated global system and carry out a successful social and economic development. Then that is very dangerous because then it could be a model to other movements and groups in neighboring countries. And gradually there could be an erosion from within by indigenous forces of American domination of the region.

  Noam Chomsky

  Country, Successful, Erosion

  Source: chomsky.info

  4 Copy quote

  Show source

• Younger people who are being indoctrinated into the contemporary system of falsification - they really have to do some research to find out what is the truth. In the general population, people forget or don't care that much. And gradually what you hear drilled into your head everyday comes to be believed. People don't understand what you're talking about any more if you discuss the American war on South Vietnam.

  Noam Chomsky

  War, Talking, People

  Source: chomsky.info

  8 Copy quote

  Show source

• I'll always have the memories of guys I lost in Vietnam. And I've lost friends since the war, but I'll always have the memories. The riches are great, but riches aren't everything, because when you go you can only take your memories and your word and your honor to the grave with you.

  Michael E. Thornton

  Memories, War, Guy

  7 Copy quote