***** The Battle of Algiers
...2ND JOURNALIST: Colonel Mathieu....Much has been said lately not only of the successes obtained by the paratroopers, but also of the methods that they have employed....Can you tell us something about this?
MATHIEU: The successes obtained are the results of those methods. One presupposes the other and vice versa.
3RD JOURNALIST: Excuse me, colonel. I have the impression that perhaps due to excessive prudence...my colleagues continue to ask the same allusive questions, to which you can only respond in an allusive manner. I think it would be better to call things by their right names; if one means torture, then one should call it torture.
MATHIEU: I understand. What's your question?
3RD JOURNALIST: The questions have already been asked. I would only like some precise answers, that's all....
MATHIEU: Let's try to be precise then. The word "torture" does not appear in our orders. We have always spoken of interrogation as the only valid method in a police operation directed against unknown enemies. As for the NLF, they request that their members, in the event of capture, should maintain silence for twenty-four hours, and then, they may talk. Thus, the organization has already had the time necessary to render useless any information furnished....What type of interrogation should we choose?....The one the courts use for a crime of homicide which drags on for months?
3RD JOURNALIST: The law is often inconvenient, colonel....
MATHIEU: And those who explode bombs in public places, do they perhaps respect the law? When you asked that question to Ben M'Hidi, remember what he said? No, gentlemen, believe me, it is a vicious circle. And we could discuss the problem for hours without reaching any conclusions. Because the problem does not lie here. The problem is: the NLF wants us to leave Algeria and we want to remain. Now, it seems to me that, despite varying shades of opinion, you all agree that we must remain. When the rebellion first began, there were not even shades of opinion. All the newspapers, even the left-wing ones wanted the rebellion suppressed. And we were sent here for this very reason. And we are neither madmen nor sadists, gentlemen. Those who call us fascists today, forget the contribution that many of us made to the Resistance. Those who call us Nazis, do not know that among us there are survivors of Dachau and Buchenwald. We are soldiers and our only duty is to win. Therefore, to be precise, I would now like to ask you a question: Should France remain in Algeria? If you answer "yes," then you must accept all the necessary consequences....
<http://blake.prohosting.com/awsm/script/boa.html> *****
Should the United States remain an empire? -- Yoshie
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