Civil war Quote by David Talbot
““Everything leads me to believe it,” he replied. “They got their hands on this communist who wasn’t one, while still being one. He had a sub par intellect and was an exalted fanatic—just the man they needed, the perfect one to be accused. . . . The guy ran away, because he probably became suspicious. They wanted to kill him on the spot before he could be grabbed by the judicial system. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen exactly the way they had probably planned it would. . . . But a trial, you realize, is just terrible. People would have talked. They would have dug up so much! They would have unearthed everything. Then the security forces went looking for [a clean-up man] they totally controlled, and who couldn’t refuse their offer, and that guy sacrificed himself to kill the fake assassin—supposedly in defense of Kennedy’s memory! “Baloney! Security forces all over the world are the same when they do this kind of dirty work. As soon as they succeed in wiping out the false assassin, they declare that the justice system no longer need be concerned, that no further public action was needed now that the guilty perpetrator was dead. Better to assassinate an innocent man than to let a civil war break out. Better an injustice than disorder. “America””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Devil's Chessboard by David Talbot, 2015
A critique of covert operations where governments manipulate events, eliminate targets, and then claim justice while hiding their own culpability.
In simple terms: Governments sometimes stage crimes and cover them up as justice.
Question hidden motives behind official narratives.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- journalistic investigation
- policy analysis
- public discourse
- historical research
- legal reform
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- Who benefits from the official story?
- How can societies ensure accountability?
Such narratives can oversimplify complex geopolitical realities.