OT: anti-american commie b.s.

Martial Media, Culture and Other Arts Off Topic
1

Like all Americans, on Tuesday, 9-11, I was shocked and horrified to watch the WTC Twin Towers attacked by hijacked planes and collapse, resulting in the deaths of perhaps up to 10,000 innocent people. I had not been that shocked and horrified since January 16, 1991, when then President Bush attacked Baghdad, and the rest of Iraq and began killing 200,000 people during that “war” (slaughter). This includes the infamous “highway of death” in the last days of the slaughter when U.S. pilots literally shot in the back retreating Iraqi civilians and soldiers. I continue to be horrified by the sanctions on Iraq, which have resulted in the death of over 1,000,000 Iraqis, including over 500,000 children, about whom former Secretary of State Madeline Allbright has stated that their deaths “are worth the cost”.

Over the course of my life I have been shocked and horrified by a variety of U.S. governmental actions, such as the U.S. sponsored coup against democracy in Guatemala in 1954 which resulted in the deaths of over 120,000 Guatemalan peasants by U.S. installed dictatorships over the course of four decades.

Last Tuesday’s events reminded me of the horror I felt when the U.S. overthrew the governments of the Dominican Republic in 1965 and helped to murder 3,000 people. And it reminded me of the shock I felt in 1973, when the U.S. sponsored a coup in Chile against the democratic government of Salvador Allende and helped to murder another 30,000 people, including U.S. citizens.

Last Tuesday’s events reminded me of the shock and horror I felt in 1965 when the U.S. sponsored a coup in Indonesia that resulted in the murder of over 800,000 people, and the subsequent slaughter in 1975 of over 250,000 innocent people in East Timor by the Indonesian regime with the direct complicity of President Ford and Secretary of State Henry Kissenger.

I was reminded of the shock and horror I felt during the U.S. sponsored terrorist contra war (the World Court declared the U.S. government a war criminal in 1984 for the mining of the harbors) against Nicaragua in the 1980s which resulted in the deaths of over 30,000 innocent people (or as the U.S. government used to call them before the term “collateral damage” was invented–“soft targets”).

I was reminded of being horrified by the U. S. war against the people of El Salvador in the 1980s, which resulted in the brutal deaths of over 80,000 people, or “soft targets”.

I was reminded of the shock and horror I felt during the U.S. sponsored terror war against the peoples of southern Africa (especially Angola) that began in the 1970’s and continues to this day and has resulted in the deaths and mutilations of over 1,000,000. I was reminded of the shock and horror I felt as the U.S. invaded Panama over the Christmas season of 1989 and killed over 8,000 in an attempt to capture George H. Bush’s CIA partner, now turned enemy, Manual Noriega.

I was reminded of the horror I felt when I learned about how the Shah of Iran was installed in a U.S. sponsored brutal coup that resulted in the deaths of over 70,000 Iranians from 1952-1979. And the continuing shock as I learned that the Ayatollah Khomani, who overthrew the Shah in 1979, and who was the U.S. public enemy for decade of the 1980s, was also on the CIA payroll, while he was in exile in Paris in the 1970s.

I was reminded of the shock and horror that I felt as I learned about how the U.S. has “manufactured consent” since 1948 for its support of Israel, to the exclusion of virtually any rights for the Palestinians in their native lands resulting in ever worsening day-to-day conditions for the people of Palestine. I was shocked as I learned about the hundreds of towns and villages that were literally wiped off the face of the earth in the early days of Israeli colonization. I was horrified in 1982 as the villagers of Sabra and Shatila were massacred by Israeli allies with direct Israeli complicity and direction. The untold thousands who died on that day match the scene of horror that we saw last Tuesday. But those scenes were not repeated over and over again on the national media to inflame the American public.

The events and images of last Tuesday have been appropriately compared to the horrific events and images of Lebanon in the 1980s with resulted in the deaths of tens of thousand of people, with no reference to the fact that the country that inflicted the terror on Lebanon was Israel, with U.S. backing. I still continue to be shocked at how mainstream commentators refer to “Israeli settlers” in the “occupied territories” with no sense of irony as they report on who are the aggressors in the region.

Of course, the largest and most shocking war crime of the second half of the 20th century was the U.S. assault on Indochina from 1954-1975, especially Vietnam, where over 4,000,000 people were bombed, napalmed, crushed, shot and individually “hands on” murdered in the “Phoenix Program” (this is where Oliver North got his start). Many U.S. Vietnam veterans were also victimized by this war and had the best of intentions, but the policy makers themselves knew the criminality of their actions and policies as revealed in their own words in “The Pentagon Papers,” released by Daniel Ellsberg of the RAND Corporation.

In 1974 Ellsberg noted that our Presidents from Truman to Nixon continually lied to the U.S. public about the purpose and conduct of the war. He has stated that, “It is a tribute to the American people that our leaders perceived that they had to lie to us, it is not a tribute to us that we were so easily misled.”

I was continually shocked and horrified as the U.S. attacked and bombed with impunity the nation of Libya in the 1980s, including killing the infant daughter of Khadafi. I was shocked as the U.S. bombed and invaded Grenada in 1983. I was horrified by U.S. military and CIA actions in Somalia, Haiti, Afghanistan, Sudan, Brazil, Argentina, and Yugoslavia. The deaths in these actions ran into the hundreds of thousands.

The above list is by no means complete or comprehensive. It is merely a list that is easily accessible and not unknown, especially to the economic and intellectual elites. It has just been conveniently eliminated from the public discourse and public consciousness. And for the most part, the analysis that the U.S. actions have resulted in the deaths of primarily civilians (over 90%) is not unknown to these elites and policy makers. A conservative number for those who have been killed by U.S. terror and military action since World War II is 8,000,000 people. Repeat–8,000,000 people. This does not include the wounded, the imprisoned, the displaced, the refugees, etc. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated in 1967, during the Vietnam War, “My government is the world’s leading purveyor of violence.” Shocking and horrifying.

Nothing that I have written is meant to disparage or disrespect those who were victims and those who suffered death or the loss of a loved one during this week’s events. It is not meant to “justify” any action by those who bombed the Twin Towers or the Pentagon. It is meant to put it in a context. If we believe that the actions were those of “madmen”, they are “madmen” who are able to keep a secret for 2 years or more among over 100 people, as they trained to execute a complex plan. While not the acts of madmen, they are apparently the acts of “fanatics” who, depending on who they really are, can find real grievances, but whose actions are illegitimate.

Osama Bin Laden at this point has been accused by the media and the government of being the mastermind of Tuesday’s bombings. Given the government’s track record on lying to the America people, that should not be accepted as fact at this time. If indeed Bin Laden is the mastermind of this action, he is responsible for the deaths of perhaps 10,000 people-a shocking and horrible crime. Ed Herman in his book The Real Terror Network: Terrorism in Fact and Propaganda does not justify any terrorism but points out that states often engage in “wholesale” terror, while those whom governments define as “terrorist” engage is “retail” terrorism. While qualitatively the results are the same for the individual victims of terrorism, there is a clear quantitative difference. And as Herman and others point out, the seeds, the roots, of much of the “retail” terror are in fact found in the “wholesale” terror of states. Again this is not to justify, in any way, the actions of last Tuesday, but to put them in a context and suggest an explanation.

Perhaps most shocking and horrific, if indeed Bin Laden is the mastermind of Tuesday’s actions; he has clearly had significant training in logistics, armaments, and military training, etc. by competent and expert military personnel. And indeed he has. During the 1980s, he was recruited, trained and funded by the CIA in Afghanistan to fight against the Russians. As long as he visited his terror on Russians and his enemies in Afghanistan, he was “our man” in that country.

The same is true of Saddam Hussein of Iraq, who was a CIA asset in Iraq during the 1980s. Hussein could gas his own people, repress the population, and invade his neighbor (Iran) as long as he did it with U.S. approval.

The same was true of Manuel Noriega of Panama, who was a contemporary and CIA partner of George H. Bush in the 1980s. Noriega’s main crime for Bush, the father, was not that he dealt drugs (he did, but the U.S. and Bush knew this before 1989), but that Noriega was no longer going to cooperate in the ongoing U.S. terrorist contra war against Nicaragua.

This information is not unknown or really controversial among elite policy makers. To repeat, this not to justify any of the actions of last Tuesday, but to put it in its horrifying context.

As shocking as the events of last Tuesday were, they are likely to generate even more horrific actions by the U.S. government that will add significantly to the 8,000,000 figure stated above. This response may well be qualitatively and quantitatively worst than the events of Tuesday. The New York Times headline of 9/14/01 states that, “Bush and Top Aides Proclaim Policy of Ending States That Back Terror” as if that was a rational, measured, or even sane option. States that have been identified for possible elimination are “a number of Asian and African countries, like Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, and even Pakistan.”

This is beyond shocking and horrific-it is just as potentially suicidal, homicidal, and more insane than the hijackers themselves. Also, qualitatively, these actions will be even worse than the original bombers if one accepts the mainstream premise that those involved are “madmen”, “religious fanatics”, or a “terrorist group.” If so, they are acting as either individuals or as a small group. The U.S. actions may continue the homicidal policies of a few thousand elites for the past 50 years, involving both political parties.

The retail terror is that of desperate and sometime fanatical small groups and individuals who often have legitimate grievances, but engage in individual criminal and illegitimate activities; the wholesale terror is that of “rational” educated men where the pain, suffering, and deaths of millions of people are contemplated, planned, and too often, executed, for the purpose of furthering a nebulous concept called the “national interest”. Space does not allow a full explanation of the elites Orwellian concept of the “national interest”, but it can be summarized as the protection and expansion of hegemony and an imperial empire.

The American public is being prepared for war while being fed a continuous stream of shocking and horrific repeated images of Tuesday’s events and heartfelt stories from the survivors and the loved ones of those who lost family members. These stories are real and should not be diminished. In fact, those who lost family members can be considered a representative sample of humanity of the 8,000,000 who have been lost previously. If we multiply by 800-1000 times the amount of pain, angst, and anger being currently felt by the American public, we might begin to understand how much of the rest of the world feels as they are continually victimized.

Some particularly poignant images are the heart wrenching public stories that we are seeing and hearing of family members with pictures and flyers searching for their loved ones. These images are virtually the same as those of the “Mothers of the Disappeared” who searched for their (primarily) adult children in places such as Argentina, where over 11,000 were “disappeared” in 1976-1982, again with U.S. approval. Just as the mothers of Argentina deserved our respect and compassion, so do the relatives of those who are searching for their relatives now.

However we should not allow ourselves to be manipulated by the U.S. government into turning real grief and anger into a national policy of wholesale terror and genocide against innocent civilians in Asia and Africa.

What we are seeing in military terms is called “softening the target.” The target here is the American public and we are being ideologically and emotionally prepared for the slaughter that may commence soon. None of the previously identified Asian and African countries are democracies, which means that the people of these countries have virtually no impact on developing the policies of their governments, even if we assume that these governments are complicit in Tuesday’s actions. When one examines the recent history of these countries, one will find that the American government had direct and indirect influences on creating the conditions for the existence of some of these governments. This is especially true of the Taliban government of Afghanistan itself.

The New York Metropolitan Area has about 21,000,000 people or about 8 % of the U.S. population. Almost everyone in America knows someone who has been killed, injured or traumatized by the events of Tuesday. I know that I do. Many people are calling for “revenge” or “vengeance” and comments such as “kill them all” have been circulated on the TV, radio, and email. A few more potentially benign comments have called for “justice.” This is only potentially benign since that term may be defined by people such as Bush and Colin Powell. Powell is an unrepentant participant in the Vietnam War, the terrorist contra war against Nicaragua, and the Gulf war, at each level becoming more responsible for the planning and execution of the policies.

Those affected, all of us, must do everything in our power to prevent a wider war and even greater atrocity, do everything possible to stop the genocide if it starts, and hold those responsible for their potential war crimes during and after the war. If there is a great war in 2001 and it is not catastrophic (a real possibility), the crimes of that war will be revisited upon the U.S. over the next generation. That is not some kind of religious prophecy or threat, it is merely a straightforward political analysis. If indeed it is Bin Laden, the world must not deal only with him as an individual criminal, but eliminate the conditions that create the injustices and war crimes that will inevitably lead to more of these types of attacks in the future. The phrase “No Justice, No Peace” is more than a slogan used in a march, it is an observable historical fact. It is time to end the horror. In a few short pages it is impossible to delineate all of the events described over the past week or to give a comprehensive accounting of U.S. foreign policy.

  • I bet a funny thing about driving a car off a cliff is, while you’re in midair, you still hit those brakes! Hey, better try the emergency brake!
2

THE DISMANTLING OF AMERICA

The current “war” on Afghanistani terrorism is a misdirection and a hoax. As pointed out in the book “Black Gold Hot Gold” the oil expected to flow from the vast oilfields under the Russian Caspian Sea, discovered about 20 years ago remains undrilled and untapped. That field contains about 500 years worth of oil at present world consumption rates.

                 The only possible oil pipeline routes at the present time to handle the massive                     flow of oil from the Caspian Sea region under Chenya is either through Kosovo                     to the Mediterranean Sea, or through Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Indian                     Ocean. Two years ago, the Clinton administration attempted to place Kosovo                     under international control and begin pipeline construction, but was unable to                     complete the process. 

                 The normal oil route would have been to move oil from Chenya, across the                     Black Sea and through the Bosporus to the Mediterranean. But the narrow                     Bosporus channel is already clogged with oil tankers from the existing Black                     Sea oilfields. The only alternate is to move the tankers from the Black Sea,                     bypassing the Bosporus, up the Danube River and then through a very short                     pipeline across Kosovo to the Mediterranean at Tirana, Albania. That process                     was stopped by the Chinese who have supplied and armed the Albanians, as a                     client state, since 1949. 

                 Following the Soviet discovery of the vast Chechen oilfields in the late 1970's,                     they attempted to take control of Afghanistan to provide a massive pipeline                     system to allow the Soviets to market their oil directly from the                     Afghan-Pakistan seaport. This resulted in the decades long Soviet-Afghan war.

The Soviets were stopped by the U.S. supplied and armed insurgent groups, including Osama bin Laden, who defeated the Soviets in the late 1980’s.

                 The Soviets had massively built up their military in the 1980's, including the                     world’s largest nuclear submarine fleet, gambling on the huge profits to be                     made by selling their Chechen oil on the open market. When the Afghans                     under bin Laden, backed by the U.S. CIA stopped the construction of the                     Soviet-Afghan pipeline, the Soviet Union went through an economic collapse                     and ceased to exist in 1991. 

                 The vast Chechen oilfield still remains fallow and untapped. As identified in                     "Black Gold Hot Gold," the Empire of Energy is now making a new attempt to                     market the Chechen oil by carpet bombing Afghanistan and building the                     Afghan pipeline. 

                 George W. Bush’s statement about declaring war on "terrorism" is obviously                     hollow and sallow. It strangely does not include the terrorists in Northern                     Ireland, nor even the terrorist suicide bombers among the Palestinians. Instead                     it makes an instant leap of logic to aim the U.S. military directly at                     Afghanistan. 

                 The terrain in northern Afghanistan is the arid rugged foothills of the Himalayas                     known as the Hindu Kush and is defended by the large fierce tribal armies of                     the Northern Alliance who are excellent guerilla fighters with years of                     experience fighting Soviets, now backed by the Chinese, and not connected                     with the main Taliban government in Kabul. The Soviets spent over 10 years at                     great expense to attack and "carpet bomb" Afghanistan, but they found                     fortress Himalaya is impenetrable. The result was tremendous loss of Soviet                     lives and the economic collapse of the Soviet Union. 

                 George Bush is now leading the United States down that same road. The                     Empire of Energy has for almost 100 years had as its goal the dismantling of                     the United States of America and amalgamating it into one large global energy                     market. They have found in George Bush a willing partner. Any war in                     Afghanistan would pit the U.S. against the Chinese who just last week, on the                     day of the Word Trade Center attack, signed a mutual pact with the Afghans. 

                 In the last 50 years the U.S, has fought numerous wars against the Chinese,                     as in Korea, Vietnam and elsewhere. In those wars the result was always a                     draw with massive loss of life. Even high tech "smart" weapons in Kosovo were                     unable to defeat the Chinese. In the upcoming Afghan war with the Chinese,                     the U.S. will lose by simple attrition. Neither smart bombs nor nuclear bombs                     work against hidden terrorists or against fortress Himalaya. There are more                     Chinese soldiers in uniform than the whole populaton of the U.S. 

                 Numerous recent news stories indicate the attack on the World Trade Center                     was known to the CIA and FBI weeks before the attack. Seemingly nothing                     was done. As for America, its panzers ran out of gas with the "strange"                     fraudulent election of November 2000. Both G.W. Bush and Al Gore were                     backed by the Empire of Energy, so it didn’t matter for whom you voted.
                 Americans have been anesthetized and put to sleep by their lack of knowledge                     of world history, as America disintegrates. 

                 -------------- Marshall Smith
3

the war prayer - mark twain

It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and spluttering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spread of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts, and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country, and invoked the God of Battles beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpourings of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.

                 It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that                     ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness                     straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety's                     sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way. 

                 Sunday morning came -- next day the battalions would leave for the front; the                     church was filled; the volunteers were there, their young faces alight with                     martial dreams -- visions of the stern advance, the gathering momentum, the                     rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the                     enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender! Then home from the war,                     bronzed heroes, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! 

                 With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the                     neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field                     of honor, there to win for the flag, or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths.                     The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the                     first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building,                     and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts,                     and poured out that tremendous invocation God the all-terrible! Thou who                     ordainest! Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword! 

                 Then came the "long" prayer. None could remember the like of it for                     passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its                   supplication was, that an ever-merciful and benignant Father of us all would                     watch over our noble young soldiers, and aid, comfort, and encourage them in                     their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in the day of battle and the hour of                     peril, bear them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident,                     invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to                     their flag and country imperishable honor and glory -- 

                 An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main                     aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that                     reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy                     cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to                     ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent                     way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher's side and stood there                     waiting. 

                 With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued with his                     moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal,                     "Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of                     our land and flag!" 

                 The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside -- which the startled                     minister did -- and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the                     spellbound audience with solemn eyes, in which burned an uncanny light; then                     in a deep voice he said: 

                 "I come from the Throne -- bearing a message from Almighty God!" 

                 The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave                     no attention. 

                 "He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd, and will grant it if such                     shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its                     import -- that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of                     men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of -- except he                     pause and think. 

                 "God's servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken                     thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two -- one uttered, the other not. Both have                     reached the ear of Him Who heareth all supplications, the spoken and the                     unspoken. Ponder this -- keep it in mind. If you would beseech a blessing                     upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor                     at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which                     needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some                     neighbor's crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it. 

                 "You have heard your ervant's prayer -- the uttered part of it. I am                     commissioned of God to put into words the other part of it -- that part which                     the pastor -- and also you in your hearts -- fervently prayed silently. And                     ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words:                     'Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!' That is sufficient. the whole of the                     uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not                     necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many                     unmentioned results which follow victory -- must follow it, cannot help but                     follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God fell also the unspoken part of the                     prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen! 

                 "O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle --
                 be Thou near them! With them -- in spirit -- we also go forth from the sweet                     peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. 

                 "O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells;                     help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to                     drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help                     us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the                     hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless                     with little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags                     and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter,                     broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it
                 -- 

                 "For our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives,                     protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain                     the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! 

                 "We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is                     the ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with                     humble and contrite hearts. Amen. 

                 (After a pause.)

                 "Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High                     waits!" 

                 It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no                     sense in what he said.
4

Noam Chomsky Interview

Original: B92 Radio Belgrade

                 Wednesday September 19 2001

                 Guest: Noam Chomsky, Professor of linguistics at MIT

                 Hosts: Svetlana Vukovic, Svetlana Lukic
                 B 92: Why do you think these attacks happened?

                 CHOMSKY: To answer the question we must first identify the perpetrators of                     the crimes. It is generally assumed, plausibly, that their origin is the Middle                     East region, and that the attacks probably trace back to the Osama Bin Laden                     network, a widespread and complex                     organization, doubtless inspired by Bin Laden but not necessarily acting under                     his control. Let us assume that this is true. Then to answer your question a                     sensible person would try to ascertain Bin Laden's views, and the sentiments                     of the large reservoir of supporters he has                     throughout the region. About all of this, we have a great deal of information. Bin                     Laden has been interviewed extensively over the year by highly reliable Middle                     East specialists, notably the most eminent correspondent in the region,                     Robert Fisk (London "Independent"), who has intimate knowledge of the entire                     region and direct experience over decades.

                 A Saudi Arabian millionaire, Bin Laden became a militant Islamic leader in the                     war to drive the Russians out of Afghanistan. He was one of the many religious                     fundamentalist extremists recruited, armed, and financed by the CIA and their                     allies in Pakistani intelligence to cause maximal harm to the Russians - quite                     possibly delaying their withdrawal, many analysts suspect - though whether he                     personally happened to have                     direct contact with the CIA is unclear, and not particularly important. Not                     surprisingly, the CIA preferred the most fanatic and cruel fighters they could                     mobilize. The end result was to "destroy a moderate regime and create a                     fanatical one, from groups recklessly financed by the Americans" ( "London                     Times" correspondent Simon Jenkins, also a specialist on the region).

                 These "Afghanis" as they are called (many, like Bin Laden, not from                     Afghanistan) carried out terror operations across the border in Russia, but they                     terminated these after Russia withdrew. Their war was not against Russia,                     which they despise, but against the Russian occupation and Russia's crimes                     against Muslims.

                 The "Afghanis" did not terminate their activities, however. They joined Bosnian                     Muslim forces in the Balkan Wars; the US did not object, just as it tolerated                     Iranian support for them, for complex reasons that we need not pursue here,                     apart from noting that concern for the grim fate of the Bosnians was not                     prominent among them. The "Afghanis" are also                     fighting the Russians in Chechnya, and, quite possibly, are involved in carrying                     out terrorist attacks in Moscow and elsewhere in Russian territory.

                 Bin Laden and his "Afghanis" turned against the US in 1990 when they                     established permanent bases in Saudi Arabia - from his point of view, a                     counterpart to the Russian occupation of Afghanistan, but far more significant                     because of Saudi Arabia's special status as the guardian of the holiest                     shrines.

                 Bin Laden is also bitterly opposed to the corrupt and repressive regimes of the                     region, which he regards as "un-Islamic," including the Saudi Arabian regime,                     the most extreme Islamic fundamentalist regime in the world, apart from the                     Taliban, and a close US ally since its origins. Bin Laden despises the US for                     its support of these regimes.

                 Like others in the region, he is also outraged by long-standing US support for                     Israel's brutal military occupation, now in its 35th year: Washington's decisive                     diplomatic, military, and economic intervention in support of the killings, the                     harsh and destructive siege over many years, the daily humiliation to which                     Palestinians are subjected, the expanding                     settlements designed to break the occupied territories into Bantustan-like                     cantons and take control of the resources, the gross violation of the Geneva                     Conventions, and other actions that are recognized as crimes throughout most                     of the world, apart from the US, which has prime responsibility for them. And                     like others, he contrasts Washington's dedicated support for these crimes with                     the decade-long US-British assault against the civilian population of Iraq, which                     has devastated the society and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths                     while strengthening Saddam Hussein - who was a favored friend and ally of the                     US and Britain right through his worst atrocities, including the gassing of the                     Kurds, as people of the region also remember well, even if Westerners prefer                     to forget the facts. These sentiments are very widely shared. The "Wall Street                     Journal" (Sept. 14) published a survey of opinions of wealthy and privileged                     Muslims in the Gulf region (bankers, professionals, businessmen with close                     links to the US). They expressed much the same views: resentment of the US                     policies of supporting Israeli crimes and blocking the international consensus                     on a                     diplomatic settlement for many years while devastating Iraqi civilian society,                     supporting harsh and repressive anti-democratic regimes throughout the                     region, and imposing barriers against economic development by "propping up                     oppressive regimes." Among the great                     majority of people suffering deep poverty and oppression, similar sentiments                     are far more bitter, and are the source of the fury and despair that has led to                     suicide bombings, as commonly understood by those who are interested in                     the facts.

                 The US, and much of the West, prefers a more comforting story. To quote the                     lead analysis in the "New York Times" (Sept. 16), the perpetrators acted out of                     "hatred for the values cherished in the West as freedom, tolerance, prosperity,                     religious pluralism and universal                     suffrage." US actions are irrelevant, and therefore need not even be mentioned                     (Serge Schmemann). This is a convenient picture, and the general stance is                     not unfamiliar in intellectual history; in fact, it is close to the norm. It happens                     to be completely at variance with everything we know, but has all the merits of                     self-adulation and uncritical support for                     power.

                 It is also widely recognized that Bin Laden and others like him are praying for                     "a great assault on Muslim states," which cause "fanatics to flock to his                     cause" (Jenkins, and many others.). That too is familiar. The escalating cycle                     of violence is typically welcomed by the harshest and most brutal elements on                     both sides, a fact evident enough from the recent history of the Balkans, to                     cite only one of many cases.

                 B 92: What consequences will those attacks have on US inner policy and to                     the American self reception?

                 CHOMSKY: US policy has already been officially announced. The world is                     being offered a "stark choice": join us, or "face the certain prospect of death                     and destruction." Congress has authorized the use of force against any                     individuals or countries the President determines to be involved in the attacks,                     a doctrine that every supporter regards as ultra-criminal. That is easily                     demonstrated. Simply ask how the same people would have reacted if                     Nicaragua had adopted this doctrine after the US had rejected the orders of the                     World Court to terminate its                     "unlawful use of force" against Nicaragua and had vetoed a Security Council                     resolution calling on all states to observe international law. And that terrorist                     attack was far more severe and destructive even than this atrocity.

                 As for how these matters are perceived here, that is far more complex. One                     should bear in mind that the media and the intellectual elites generally have                     their particular agendas. Furthermore, the answer to this question is, in                     significant measure, a matter of decision: as in many other cases, with                     sufficient dedication and energy, efforts to stimulate fanaticism, blind hatred,                     and submission to authority can be reversed. We all know that very well.

                 B 92: Do you expect US to profoundly change their policy to the rest of the                     world?

                 CHOMSKY: The initial response was to call for intensifying the policies that                     led to the fury and resentment that provides the background of support for the                     terrorist attack, and to pursue more intensively the agenda of the most hard                     line elements of the leadership: increased militarization, domestic                     regimentation, attack on social programs. That is all to be expected. Again,                     terror attacks, and the escalating cycle of violence they often engender, tend                     to reinforce the authority and prestige of the most harsh and repressive                     elements of a society. But there is nothing inevitable about submission to this                     course.

                 B 92: After the first shock, came fear of what US answer is going to be. Are                     you afraid, too?

                 CHOMSKY: Every sane person should be afraid of the likely reaction - the one                     that has already been announced, the one that probably answers Bin Laden's                     prayers. It is highly likely to escalate the cycle of violence, in the familiar way,                     but in this case on a far greater scale.

                 The US has already demanded that Pakistan terminate the food and other                     supplies that are keeping at least some of the starving and suffering people of                     Afghanistan alive. If that demand is implemented, unknown numbers of people                     who have not the remotest connection to terrorism will die, possibly millions.                     Let me repeat: the US has demanded that Pakistan kill possibly millions of                     people who are themselves victims of the Taliban. This has nothing to do even                     with revenge. It is at a far lower moral level even than that. The significance is                     heightened by the fact that this is mentioned in passing, with no comment,                     and probably will hardly be noticed. We can learn a great deal about the moral                     level of the reigning intellectual culture of the West by observing the reaction to                     this demand. I think we can be reasonably confident that if the American                     population had the slightest idea of what                     is being done in their name, they would be utterly appalled. It would be                     instructive to seek historical precedents                     .
                 If Pakistan does not agree to this and other US demands, it may come under                     direct attack as well - with unknown consequences. If Pakistan does submit to                     US demands, it is not impossible that the government will be overthrown by                     forces much like the Taliban - who in this case will have nuclear weapons. That                     could have an effect throughout the region, including the oil producing states.                     At this point we are considering the possibility of a war that may destroy much                     of human society.

                 Even without pursuing such possibilities, the likelihood is that an attack on                     Afghans will have pretty much the effect that most analysts expect: it will                     enlist great numbers of others to support of Bin Laden, as he hopes. Even if he                     is killed, it will make little difference. His voice will be heard on cassettes that                     are distributed throughout the Islamic world, and he is likely to be revered as a                     martyr, inspiring others. It is worth bearing in mind that one suicide bombing -                     a truck driven into a US military base - drove the world's major military force                     out of Lebanon 20 years ago. The opportunities for such attacks are endless.                     And suicide attacks are very hard to prevent.

                 B 92: "The world will never be the same after 11.09.01". Do you think so?

                 CHOMSKY: The horrendous terrorist attacks on Tuesday are something quite                     new in world affairs, not in their scale and character, but in the target. For the                     US, this is the first time since the War of 1812 that its national territory has                     been under attack, even threat. It's colonies have been attacked, but not the                     national territory itself. During these years the US virtually exterminated the                     indigenous population, conquered half of Mexico, intervened violently in the                     surrounding region, conquered Hawaii and the Philippines (killing hundreds of                     thousands of Filipinos), and in the past half century particularly, extended its                     resort to force throughout much of the world. The number of victims is                     colossal. For the first time, the guns have been directed the other way. The                     same is true, even more dramatically, of Europe. Europe has suffered                     murderous destruction, but from internal wars, meanwhile conquering much of                     the world with extreme brutality. It has not been under attack by its victims                     outside, with rare exceptions (the IRA in England, for example). It is therefore                     natural that NATO should rally to the support of the US; hundreds of years of                     imperial violence have an enormous impact on the intellectual and moral                     culture.

                 It is correct to say that this is a novel event in world history, not because of the                     scale of the atrocity - regrettably - but because of the target. How the West                     chooses to react is a matter of supreme importance. If the rich and powerful                     choose to keep to their traditions of hundreds of years and resort to extreme                     violence, they will contribute to the escalation of a cycle of violence, in a                     familiar dynamic, with long-term consequences that could be awesome. Of                     course, that is by no means inevitable. An aroused public within the more free                     and democratic societies can direct policies towards a much more humane                     and honorable course.

[This message was edited by MaFuYee on 10-10-01 at 01:31 PM.]

5

The Sick Mind of Noam Chomski

The Sick Mind of Noam Chomski
http://www.frontpagemag.com/columnists/horowitz/2001/dh10-10-01p.htm

All you young fans of this person should read this article to get a more balanced view.

6

not monkey, but one higher..

7

Noam Chomsky says a lot of things that he doesn’t bother to provide evidence for.

8

Well, I don’t really have time right this second to read all the posts carefully, but I do have to say this:

The list of United States actions is accurate - we did indeed do all of that. The part about the oil and gas fields and the route to the Gulf has been well known to anyone who follows economics or even the stock market, particularly the energy sector.

The “wag the dog” theory - hey, not so far-fetched, if a bit alarmist.

I don’t really see anything “communist” in this. I do see some scared people who remember their history.

I’ll come back and read it thoroughly later.

9

I’d like to say that China does not have more soldiers in Uniform than the entire population of the US, as it was stated above.

As to the rest, people of this type seldom have the ability to see more than one side of an argument. While many of the statements are correct, they are not taken in context. Statements regarding africa and the middle east in particular fail to take into account the dynamics presented by the fall of colonial empires, and the Cold War.

Merciless is Mercy.

10

Bu11sh1it !!!

I would love to read this Sh1t! but I don’t give this self rightious crap any thought.

Another leftist liberal crying, this ant the Vietnam war!

I’m personnally tired of Pinko Commie Butt Pirates sh1ting on the flag.

He D1ckhead!!! People are starving in Iraq because the government won’t spend any of thier oil money on humanitarian relief. China is buying billions of barrels of oil every month from them.

Check it out for yourself "You Fu2kin internet terroist!!

GO USA

GO USA

GO USA