Berlusconi quoted as saying Mussolini "never killed anyone"

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 9/11/03 | Tom Rachman

[MikalM]

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi was quoted Thursday as saying that Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini never killed anyone and only sent people away on vacations in internal exile, a claim that distressed Jewish leaders.

The premier later explained that he had not intended to re-evaluate Mussolini's place in history, and had only been responding to a comparison between Saddam Hussein's Iraq and Mussolini's Italy made by his interviewer.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

The premier clarified his remark later. He also said the interview was supposed to be a "summer chat" with The Spectator, and that he didn't know that the material would also appear in the Italian paper. Berlusconi added that he'd expected to be able to review the interview text before publication.

So, he is only ashamed that the people of his country could read such a comment, but not that the citizens of Britain would?

[Democratshavenobrains]

The Left doesn't want to admit that Mussolini saved more Jews than their best friend Joe Stalin.

[John Beresford Tipton]

He wacked his son-in-law, Count Ciani.

[Prodigal Son]

"Mussolini never killed anyone. Mussolini used to send people on vacation in internal exile," Berlusconi was quoted as saying.

Is this the entire quote though? It's incredibly important in these types of things...

[Destro]

I am sure the Italians loved their vacation to Greece....

[AntiGuv]

I'm sure this'll go over as great as his Nazi commandant [or whatever it was] quip at the Euro parliament...

[Southack]

It's no great surprise that the San Francisco Chronicle would repeat tabloid gossip about a conservative like Berlusconi...

[MalcolmS]

As I recall, no one at all was killed when Il Duce ordered the invasion of Ethiopia to realize his pathetic fantasy of renewing Imperial Rome, no one at all, especially not any Ethiopians fighting tanks and warplanes with muskets and spears.

[Imal]

So did he say this or not? I'm confused.

[bernie_g]

Here's what I take to be the original story in the Spectator.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/article.php3?table=old&section=current&issue=2003-09-13&id=3508

The following quote is taken from it:

Berlusconi - ‘That was a much more benign dictatorship — Mussolini did not murder anyone. Mussolini sent people on holiday to confine them [banishment to small islands such as Ponza and Maddalena which are now exclusive resorts].’