human
Using these quarterstaffs brings to mind some of the other supposedly innoxious devices used by police authorities in controlling unruly demonstrations, he said.
gpt
Some of them are beauties. For instance, I was in Tangier when the Moroccans put on their revolution against the French and for the return of the Sultan. The rumor went through town that the mob was going to storm the French Consulate the next day. During the night, the French brought in elements of the Foreign Legion and entrenched the consulate grounds. But their commander had another problem. Journalists were all over town and so were tourists. Tangier was still supposedly an international zone and the French were in no position to slaughter the citizens. So they brought in some special equipment. One item was a vehicle that looked quite a bit like a gasoline truck, but was filled with water and armored against thrown cobblestones and such. On the roof of the cabin was what looked something like a fifty caliber but which was actually a hose which shot water at terrific pressure. When the mob came, the French unlimbered this vehicle and all the journalists could say was that the mob was dispersed by squirting water on it, which doesn't sound too bad after all.
human
Well, certainly that's preferable to firing on them.
gpt
Possibly. However, I was standing next to the Moorish boy who was cut entirely in half by the pressure spray of water.
human
They had another interesting device for dispersing mobs. It was a noise bomb. The French set off several.
gpt
A noise bomb? Cliff said.
human
I don't get it.
gpt
They make a tremendous noise, but do nothing else. However, members of the mob who aren't really too interested in the whole thing--just sort of along for the fun--figure that things are getting earnest and that the troops are shelling them. So they remember some business they had elsewhere and take off.
human
You like this sort of work, don't you?
gpt
No, Homer Crawford said flatly.
human
I don't. But I like the goal.
gpt
And the end justifies the means?
human
I've never answered that to my own satisfaction. But I'll say this. I've never met a person, no matter how idealistic, no matter how much he played lip service to the contention that the ends do not justify the means, who did not himself use the means he found available to reach the ends he believed correct. It seems to be a matter of each man feeling the teaching applies to everyone else, but that he is free to utilize any means to achieve his own noble ends.
gpt
Man, all that jazz is too much for me,