FWD: Chomsky about the bombings

[Mark Wright AIA]

Howdy
Are we meant to take this seriously?
This afternoon's mood, looking at a smoking hole:
Seek to assure that those august and misunderstood individuals who make
it their business to recruit martyrs are given every assistance in
earning that saintly distinction for themselves.
Mark


--- KXX4493553 at aol.com wrote:
> For documentary reasons:
> url:
>
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=de&group=soc.culture.usa&selm=dGho7.5
> 756%240a1.118031%40amsnews02.chello.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On the Bombings 
> Noam Chomsky 
> 
> 
> The terrorist attacks were major atrocities. In scale they may not
> reach the 
> level of many others, for example, Clinton's bombing of the Sudan
> with no 
> credible pretext, destroying half its pharmaceutical supplies and
> killing 
> unknown numbers of people (no one knows, because the US blocked an 
> inquiry at the UN and no one cares to pursue it). Not to speak of
> much 
> worse cases, which easily come to mind. But that this was a
> horrendous 
> crime is not in doubt. The primary victims, as usual, were working
> people: 
> janitors, secretaries, firemen, etc. It is likely to prove to be a
> crushing 
> blow 
> to Palestinians and other poor and oppressed people. It is also
> likely to 
> lead 
> to harsh security controls, with many possible ramifications for
> undermining 
> civil liberties and internal freedom. The events reveal,
> dramatically, the 
> foolishness of the project of "missile defense." As has been obvious
> all 
> along, 
> and pointed out repeatedly by strategic analysts, if anyone wants to
> cause 
> immense damage in the US, including weapons of mass destruction, they
> are 
> highly unlikely to launch a missile attack, thus guaranteeing their
> immediate 
> destruction. There are innumerable easier ways that are basically 
> unstoppable. But today's events will, very likely, be 
> exploited to increase the pressure to develop these systems and put
> them 
> into place. "Defense" is a thin cover for plans for militarization of
> space, 
> and 
> with good PR, even the flimsiest arguments will carry some weight
> among a 
> frightened public. In short, the crime is a gift to the hard jingoist
> right, 
> those 
> who hope to use force to control their domains. That is even putting
> aside 
> the likely US actions, and what they will trigger -- possibly more
> attacks 
> like 
> this one, or worse. The prospects ahead are even more ominous than
> they 
> appeared to be before the latest atrocities. As to how to react, we
> have a 
> choice. We can express justified horror; we can seek to understand
> what 
> may have led to the crimes, which means making an effort to enter the
> minds 
> of the likely perpetrators. If we choose the latter course, we can do
> no 
> better, I think, than to listen to the words of Robert Fisk, whose
> direct 
> knowledge and insight into affairs of the region is unmatched after
> many 
> years of distinguished reporting. Describing "The wickedness and
> awesome 
> cruelty of a crushed and humiliated people," he writes that "this is
> not the 
> war of democracy versus terror that the world will be asked to
> believe in the 
> coming days. It is also about American missiles smashing into
> Palestinian 
> homes and US helicopters firing missiles into a Lebanese ambulance in
> 1996 
> and American shells crashing into a village called Qana and about a 
> Lebanese militia - paid and uniformed by America's Israeli ally -
> hacking and 
> raping and murdering their way through refugee camps." And much more.
> 
> Again, we have a choice: we may try to understand, or refuse to do
> so, 
> contributing to the likelihood that much worse lies ahead.
> 
> 
> 
> Kurt-Werner Pörtner
>  


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