The explanation given by one of the O.A.S. leaders for the “scorched earth policy” is as follows: “You have to remember Arab mentality — to impress the Arabs, you’ve got to make a solemn performance of killing a man. Don’t just shoot him, but put him up against a wall with a firing squad. In revolutionary war the riposte must be, if possible, both rapid and spectacular. So it was with the ‘scorched earth policy’. We had to do something that would really make them understand the significance of what was happening….”

XREF: Connects to theories of performative violence and 'shock and awe' tactics used later in colonial and neocolonial conflicts.

Horne, Alistair, A Savage War of Peace- Alge…, loc. 1626