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war-crimes-exposure

The unprecedented public display and acknowledgment of American war crimes during the Vietnam War.

1 chapter across 1 book

American Power and the New Mandarins (1969)Noam Chomsky

Pages 24–34

The chapter critically examines the American public's indifference and pragmatic opposition to the Vietnam War, exposing the brutal realities of U.S. military policies such as forced urbanization and terror bombing of civilian infrastructure. It highlights the moral degeneration in American society through the trivialization of violence and calls for a profound moral reckoning or 'denazification' to address systemic injustice. The chapter concludes with cautious optimism about emerging collective resistance, the influence of libertarian socialist ideas, and the role of a moral elite in fostering fundamental social transformation amid risks of domestic repression.