By Nathan Barton

“We had to destroy the village in order to save it.” Heard that before? It is a quote, or claimed to be a quote, from the American Phase of the Southeast Asian War (usually called the Vietnamese War in the Fifty States). Wikipedia says, in part: A famous quote from the Vietnam War was a statement attributed to an unnamed U.S. officer by AP correspondent Peter Arnett in his writing about Bến Tre city on 7 February 1968: ‘It became necessary to destroy the town to save it’, a United States major said today. He was talking about the decision by allied commanders to bomb and shell the town regardless of civilian casualties, to rout the Vietcong. The quote became distorted in subsequent publications, eventually becoming the more familiar, “We had to destroy the village in order to save it.

Today, those who know anything at all about that war (but not a WHOLE lot) will associate the phrase with the village of My Lai, the site of a famous massacre of civilians often compared to Wounded Knee or Sand Creek or the Washita village attack (Dakota, Colorado, and Oklahoma, respectively). The Bến Tre battle has today been superseded in historical memory by the Second and Third Battles of Fallujah in Mesopotamia (Iraq), a major city which received major damage by Coalition and “Iraqi” attacks against insurgents in the Second Battle and Islamic State (Caliphate) forces in the Third Battle. The huge number of civilian deaths and wounded in the Second Battle is of particular comparison. Both times, much of the city was destroyed in order to “save it” from the enemy occupation forces.

There are no doubt other cities and battles which we can compare, including recent battles in Syria and even in Ukraine. But virtually EVERY war in which “total warfare” was practiced on at least a local level has similarities.

Which brings me to the Fifty States in 2016 and beyond.

It appears that at least some groups, some people, believe that it is time to do a Bến Tre or Fallujah on the Fifty States. Or at least parts of it. Again, not even looking at the evil events of the Indian Wars, here on North America we’ve had our share of such things, from the French and Spanish wars of the 1700s to Nauvoo and Bleeding Kansas and the pocket civil war in Missouri, to the Ludlow Massacre and the “purchase” of the Great Smokies National Park, burning out of neighborhoods in DC during the King riots (1968), Philadelphia police burning out “squatters”, the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles, and of course, the Branch Davidian compound. Some have been by various kinds of rebels or protesters; many by police or even military units, and some by hirelings: contractors working for companies or unions or government agencies. All involved needless deaths, massive destruction of private (and sometimes public) property, and claims that “we had no choice.”

So now we have the agonized screams of pain, fear, and panic by Trump-haters, who appear to be willing to destroy their cities and their states in an attempt to burn the idea of a Trump presidency out of their minds. And to overthrow the “racist, sexist” system which allowed such to happen. Trump and anyone who supported him, voted (or may have voted) for him, or has anything good to say about him or the election (including supporters of Stein and Johnson who “enabled” the GOP to win, is a potential target. Reports and videos have surfaced of a high school girl attacked and beaten in California by classmates (who then demanded that she be expelled for creating hate), an older Anglo man pulled out of his car and beaten by passersby in Chicago, a seven-year-old whose mother packed his suitcase and expelled him from their (her?) home, a young man beaten for wearing a red Trump shirt on his college campus, and a man choked on a train because of his Trump hat. Minor, for now. But the threats are growing stronger, not just against Trump and his family, but against supporters. And against the system that allowed him to even run, much less win.

At the same time, there are lots of claims of attacks (mostly vocal) by Trump supporters on Muslims, “people of color” and women appearing on social media, but few on news sites. And those which appear on news sites could often be viewed as likely “false flag” attacks, such as comments characterized as “racial slurs” (telling people to go to the back of the bus or calling them “the n word” and saying it was alright to do so because “Trump is president now”) in NYC itself and vandalism “by Trump supporters” of a Muslim prayer room. Some definitely smell of intentional actions INTENDED to rouse public opinion against Trump, and others seem very much like vandalism during the election campaign done by Clinton or Saunders supporters (or in some cases, anti-Trump GOP people) but done to implicate Trump supporters. Similar to false claims of rape and kidnapping to gain attention, especially on college campuses, these seem… odd. There ARE some clear cases where stupid people intentionally irrigated and egged on anti-Trump protesters, as in a weekend event in Durango, Colorado, where people flying Southern Cross flags on their diesel pickups created clouds of black smoke which drifted across protesters, and the idiots who roll down their windows to scream “Make America Great Again” at protesters in many places. But however disrespectful and offensive and angering these are, they scarcely can compare to threats of beating and killing and actually beating people.

Now, we have no reason to believe yet that Donald Trump will lead the FedGov to do any differently when it comes to destroying villages or towns or cities – or whole societies – than his last three or four predecessors, or for that matter most of the 44 men that have previously been in that position of power. For the past eight years, that power has been in alliance with the Tranzis who now seem to want, more than ever, to destroy the “village” to “save it. But now, we seem to have two different power centers BOTH who may want to do so.

Be prepared. Be very prepared.