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TechnoratiNUCLEAR-armed states are criminal states. They have a legal obligation, confirmed by the World Court, to live up to Article 6 of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which calls on them to carry out good-faith negotiations to eliminate nuclear weapons entirely. None of the nuclear states has lived up to it.The United States is a leading violator, especially the Bush administration, which even has stated that it isn't subject to Article 6.
On July 27, Washington entered into an agreement with India that guts the central part of the NPT, though there remains substantial opposition in both countries. India, like Israel and Pakistan (but unlike Iran), is not an NPT signatory, and has developed nuclear weapons outside the treaty. With this new agreement, the Bush administration effectively endorses and facilitates this outlaw behaviour. The agreement violates US law, and bypasses the Nuclear Suppliers Group, the 45 nations that have established strict rules to lessen the danger of proliferation of nuclear weapons.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, observes that the agreement doesn't bar further Indian nuclear testing and, "incredibly, ... commits Washington to help New Delhi secure fuel supplies from other countries even if India resumes testing." It also permits India to "free up its limited domestic supplies for bomb production." All these steps are in direct violation of international nonproliferation agreements.
The Indo-US agreement is likely to prompt others to break the rules as well. Pakistan is reported to be building a plutonium production reactor for nuclear weapons, apparently beginning a more advanced phase of weapons design. Israel, the regional nuclear superpower, has been lobbying Congress for privileges similar to India's, and has approached the Nuclear Suppliers Group with requests for exemption from its rules. Now France, Russia and Australia have moved to pursue nuclear deals with India, as China has with Pakistan - hardly a surprise, once the global superpower has opened the door.
The Indo-US deal mixes military and commercial motives. Nuclear weapons specialist Gary Milhollin noted Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's testimony to Congress that the agreement was "crafted with the private sector firmly in mind," particularly aircraft and reactors and, Milhollin stresses, military aircraft. By undermining the barriers against nuclear war, he adds, the agreement not only increases regional tensions but also "may hasten the day when a nuclear explosion destroys an American city." Washington's message is that "export controls are less important to the United States than money" - that is, profits for US corporations - whatever the potential threat. Kimball points out that the United States is granting India "terms of nuclear trade more favourable than those for states that have assumed all the obligations and responsibilities" of the NPT. In most of the world, few can fail to see the cynicism. Washington rewards allies and clients that ignore the NPT rules entirely, while threatening war against Iran, which is not known to have violated the NPT, despite extreme provocation: The United States has occupied two of Iran's neighbours and openly sought to overthrow the Iranian regime since it broke free of US control in 1979.
Over the past few years, India and Pakistan have made strides towards easing the tensions between the two countries. People-to-people contacts have increased and the governments are in discussion over the many outstanding issues that divide the two states. Those promising developments may well be reversed by the Indo-US nuclear deal. One of the means to build confidence throughout the region was the creation of a natural gas pipeline from Iran through Pakistan into India. The "peace pipeline" would have tied the region together and opened the possibilities for further peaceful integration.
The pipeline, and the hope it offers, might become a casualty of the Indo-US agreement, which Washington sees as a measure to isolate its Iranian enemy by offering India nuclear power in exchange for Iranian gas - though in fact India would gain only a fraction of what Iran could provide.
The Indo-US deal continues the pattern of Washington's taking every measure to isolate Iran. In 2006, the US Congress passed the Hyde Act, which specifically demanded that the US government "secure India's full and active participation in United States efforts to dissuade, isolate, and if necessary, sanction and contain Iran for its efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction."
It is noteworthy that the great majority of Americans - and Iranians - favour converting the entire region to a nuclear-weapons free zone, including Iran and Israel. One may also recall that UN Security Council Resolution 687 of April 3, 1991, to which Washington regularly appealed when seeking justification for its invasion of Iraq, calls for "establishing in the Middle East a zone free from weapons of mass destruction and all missiles for their delivery."
Clearly, ways to mitigate current crises aren't lacking.
This Indo-US agreement richly deserves to be derailed. The threat of nuclear war is extremely serious, and growing, and part of the reason is that the nuclear states - led by the United States - simply refuse to live up to their obligations or are significantly violating them, this latest effort being another step toward disaster.
The US Congress gets a chance to weigh in on this deal after the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group vet it. Perhaps Congress, reflecting a citizenry fed up with nuclear gamesmanship, can reject the agreement. A better way to go forward is to pursue the need for global nuclear disarmament, recognising that the very survival of the species is at stake.
Noam Chomsky's most recent book is Interventions, a collection of his commentary pieces distributed by The New York Times Syndicate. Chomsky is emeritus professor of linguistics and philosophy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.
Copyright © 2007 Khaleej Times
53 Comments so far
Show Allgyptian:"i think Prakash and Brinda Karat have their heart in the right place. They may not have the support of the rest of the corrupt Left in their stand but at least they have a friggin backbone unlike the congress and the BJP that fall all over themselves shamelessly to appease the golden U.S."
As i write this ,the media is full of the news that Comrade Karat has managed to pull off the impossible. He has , single-handedly ,brought the entire Government of India to heel ,and forced them to eat crow. India has had to back off . The whole Nuclear Deal is off -and PM Singh has advised President Bush of this.
It has been such a vindication for many of us here . Many of us who deeply distrust the West -and Westerners in general . And would prefer to have as little to do with them as possible.And ,if it were possible have absolutely no truck with them at all.
Even hand-me-down coal-fired ( possibly environment polluting ) power plants from China are far more preferable .
Unlike Western Nuclear Technology ,these do not require that we barter our souls ,or prostitute or principles ,in return.
gyptian:"despite this, Indians today for reasons that only confound me, do not harbour much grievance towards the brits. It probably has to do with the all pervading sense of spiritualism that exists in India despite the latest trend towards hyper-capitalism.
Ive studied Indian history, ancient Indian history and modern Indian history and the single thing that stands out is this capacity to absorb other cultures, take the best out of it and let it go. There is nothing quite like this in any culture."
I can only speak for myself - and I thank you for these very kind words you've said about us.
Though let me say (after a lifetime of having been here ) that the reality is rather more complicated and "nuanced ' ( to fall back on a tested and tried cliche ) than that .
Even a short answer ( that I might attempt )would not even begin to touch the surface -much less skim it.
I would be more than happy to share my 'two pice -worth' with you. Should you be interested in discoursing on this further I can be reached rjkt at the rate of excite dot com.
Cheers
"gyptian spoke about how badly colonialism has scarred the Indian psyche. He couldn't be more right "
I didnt mean this in a negative way. Its a testament to how brutal british colonialism was and its effects over 250 years of occupation can scar the strongest. Yet despite this, Indians today for reasons that only confound me, do not harbour much grievance towards the brits. It probably has to do with the all pervading sense of spiritualism that exists in India despite the latest trend towards hyper-capitalism.
Ive studied Indian history, ancient Indian history and modern Indian history and the single thing that stands out is this capacity to absorb other cultures, take the best out of it and let it go. There is nothing quite like this in any culture.
FrederickJohnson:"By the way, my niece and daughter cherish a lot of eastern values. I saw an Indian channel Suntv in one of my neighbor's homes on DishNetwork. Surprisingly, everything is way too commercialized and too fantasy-like to be true. Not only that but if one were to watch the channel or even the more "casual" channels, there would be no hint of yoga, rig vedas, etc … that my daughter and niece learned."
I hate to say this but this is all too true. And so very symptomatic of the depths to which we've sunk . Words like 'dumbed-down' don't even begin to describe it. TV keeps serving up oodles of mindless fare : Cricket-cricket and still more cricket , followed by asinine Entertainment , with developments on the Stock Markets bringing up the rear.
The net result is we've been reduced to a giant blob of absolutely mindless cricket-crazy automatons . Chanting mantras only for every uptick of the Stock Markets.
As for the Vedas : "Never 'eard of 'em."
gyptian spoke about how badly colonialism has scarred the Indian psyche. He couldn't be more right : this mass dementia over cricket is the Trojan Horse that the departing Brits ever so craftily planted in our midst.
We worship it as no God was ever worshipped.
Cricket will yet be the undoing of us . Reducing all that was great and good in our traditions , our culture and our ethos to tatters.
RJKT,
Why don't you come over to
http://www.workingassetsblog.com/sirota/
and join us? David Sirota has a lot of understanding about the real crisis and plight of the working class and in fact you could learn from his explanations in his works such as "Hostile Takeover" as to what can be done to take back the good lifestyle back in your country. I might add that the rig vedas and yoga Fred mentioned will go a long ways. I'd hate to see those get privatized as well.
JConrad, thanks. After I posted my comment I reread your post and realized that I had misread your intent. Unfortunately we can't go back and edit or erase comments after the alloted time period passes. Thanks for your comments and apologies for my misreading.
RJKT,
I don't how exactly it's going in your country but here in the US, especially in the Deep South (where I live) and the rural Midwest, the lower/middle/working class folks are exactly what Thomas Frank, author of "WHAT'S THE MATTER WITH KANSAS?" describes. The US Chamber of Commerce, Wall Street, Walmart, McDonalds, etc ... are looked at as almost "churches" by a lot of fundie voters out here in South Carolina. The most tragic part of all this is despite the fact that they will have the most to LOSE from big business and the military industrial complex altogether, they gleefully vote against their economic,environmental, ecological, and even safety well being. I read George Lakoff's books "Moral Politics: How Liberals and Conservatives Think", "Don't Think of an Elephant", and "Whose Freedom?" and it seems that there is a code titled "Strict Father Morality" which I would call authoritative morality whereby these authoritative tyrants delude people into identifying with them. For example, back here in the US, a lot of people are often deluded into believing that they'll get richer and richer if they follow the "Donald Trump" model of getting rich and will thus choose to identify with Donald Trump. It's basically a matter of framing people to think more towards their beliefs. The other model is nurturance whereby more people help each other and there's less of a me-me-me individualistic sense in people, rare in fundie land.
P.S.:
Back in 2004 when Sonia Ghandi won, god knows how, I heard that somehow the voters voted for their economic interests but nowadays it parallels the way America voted Democrat in 2006 only to be betrayed once again.
By the way, I'd be happy to share more with you and hopefully help others out there. I can be reached at fjons AT yahoo DOT com
.
rebelnow:
I am using the word in a subjective manner consistent with popular misconceptions. I thought that was obvious, but I tend to favor poetry over prose.
Someone wanting to discredit a messenger of truth will often use words with common negative connotations, like anarchist or communist.
Even socialism is a dirty word in America although the largest welfare fraud in America is corporate welfare. I know of millionaire farmers who have gotten rich off farm subsidies yet rant about "socialism" and of course vote Republican as long as they get their handouts. God save us from aid to single mothers with dependent children, although I have heard they may bring ADC back to encourage the poor to produce more cannon fodder for the war machine.
The fellow using the "anarchist" word was, in my opinion, an idiot trying to put Chomsky down by twisting one word.
Such is the technique of swiftboating good people.
I theory, communism and anarchy are very idealistic equalitarian theoretical constructs, but humans may not be ready for or capable of interacting with systems that require everyone cooperate unselfishly with good intentions. Russia and China have certainly failed to live up to the idealism of Marx...etc.
Capitalism is a tough nut to crack as it appeals to greed and ego as opposed to generosity and selflessness. And at this point in time in Amerika, the greedy people have deeply entrenched power.
"Now I understand Wal Mart and their ilk are moving into the retail sector with giant supermarkets . This will put at least a million neighbour-hood grocery stores out of business." - RJKT
Walmart and the MNCs sure never know when to stop. They already horrendously killed rural America be it the small mom and pop stores or the farmlands themselves. Like kids playing with toys, when they're finished raping and killing the bread and bones of life in one country, they're ready to move on to the next country and so on. I hear that farmers in China and India are being crushed the most from this.
By the way, my niece and daughter cherish a lot of eastern values. I saw an Indian channel Suntv in one of my neighbor's homes on DishNetwork. Surprisingly, everything is way too commercialized and too fantasy-like to be true. Not only that but if one were to watch the channel or even the more "casual" channels, there would be no hint of yoga, rig vedas, etc ... that my daughter and niece learned. The big step towards taking back our lives is doing away with the TVs I'm afraid.
maxpayne:"My wife was in total grief last year when her favorite uncle, a farmer in rural India, committed suicide after being forced to forfeit his farm and face other unwarranted penalties, all in the name of letting the multinational corporations (MNCs) rape the farmlands and set up their buildings to put their slave army.'
Tragically, suicides by farmers keeps on increasing by leaps and bounds. For a time it was getting extensive coverage in the media .But for quite a while now they've not been getting the coverage -they rightly should .
Its almost surreal -farmers keep committing suicide . Meanwhile the MNCs keep cornering stocks of potatoes ( for Lays ) , tomatoes ( for Ketchup ) and other fruits and vegetables ( for their fancy pickles , preserves and compotes ).
I shouldn't be surprised if they move on to corner food grains in order to make Ethanol ( to power their wretched SUVs ).
The net result being that we won't have very much food to put on the table .While the MNCs will continue to rake in the megabucks - thanks to Lays , Ketchup , Ethanol etc. (With Wall Street continuing to sing their praises . )
And the poor farmers will continue to commit suicide -despairing of ever being able to meet their commitments to the loan sharks.
I entirely agree with you .The rape of farmlands by these infernal MNCs (in cahoots with the local powers-that-be ) continues apace.And is a positive outrage.That seems unstoppable.
Now I understand Wal Mart and their ilk are moving into the retail sector with giant supermarkets . This will put at least a million neighbour-hood grocery stores out of business.
"all in the name of letting the multinational corporations (MNCs) rape the farmlands and set up their buildings to put their slave army"
Which is precisely what will happen and in greater force if the nuclear deal goes through as the trade involved is close to $ 200 Billion. The rest of your post is incoherent so ill let it pass.
--"This particular part of the world has more going for it than Outsourcing , grinding poverty , fake 'godmen'- and a blind antipathy to all things Pakistani , Bangladeshi or Chinese ( or the Left for that matter)."
What has this got to do with anything ... im really confused now. I have travelled extensively and lived in the India and other asian countries and have close ties to a lot of people at ALL levels of society. Please do not suggest you represent a billion Indians ... you dont.
--"Strange as it may seem ,there are many out here who subscribe to the view that the West is not to be trusted and that Westerners ,in general, are at best ,fair weather friends "
I totally agree with those who think so. Which is precisely why I think in the long run like iyumwithu above said, its all bad.
--"Let's see what the voters , in the main, think of the Left's 'principled ' stand on the deal"
To begin with the Left has never won more than 10-15% of votes in your country at any given time. It has definitely produced corrupt and insignificant 'Leaders' in the past but has its share of genuine disciplined and principled leaders as well and i think Prakash and Brinda Karat have their heart in the right place. They may not have the support of the rest of the corrupt Left in their stand but at least they have a friggin backbone unlike the congress and the BJP that fall all over themselves shamelessly to appease the golden U.S.
Chomsky may be correct in a great deal of what he has pointed out but I think gyptian totally misunderstands the fallacy of the fake "left" that plagues both the US and India and there are probably plenty more countries where such exists. See, Pat Robertson and his ilk are desperate enough to replace peaceful/tolerant Christians with warmongering, blind fundie type. For decades, fanatical Muslims and fanatical Christians have given good Muslims and Christians a bad rap. Kashmir has been devastated by poverty and terrorism and is in danger of falling into the wrong hands. The militants in Pakistan have made it harder for India and Afghanistan to conduct fair trade and yet the Indian fake "left" stays silent. Democrat or Republican, Washington shows blind loyalty to pro-terrorists and until the policies against India are stopped and America abolishes the CIA, the US will continue to look at India as "pro-commie" all the while supporting rogue regimes. That's what Chomsky is missing in his discussion. Hopefully, the Hindus will wake up and take Lakoff's ideas of reframing the debate (http://www.rockridge.org) and find non-violent solutions to all this dividing. And by the way, a lot of Israelis I hear are giving Hinduism a good look especially since there is no middle in that war torn land.
P.S.:
My wife was in total grief last year when her favorite uncle, a farmer in rural India, committed suicide after being forced to forfeit his farm and face other unwarranted penalties, all in the name of letting the multinational corporations (MNCs) rape the farmlands and set up their buildings to put their slave army (i.e. employees that will be paid near slave wages on jobs that were taken away from the US by these same MNCs) in force. Thomas Friedman could care less about most farmers be it US, India, Mexico, or any country for that matter given his neo-lib/neo-con fervor.
maxpayne:"The fake "left" in India could care less about whether the deal goes through or not because they're backdoor puppets for the politicians and/or militants in China and Pakistan.'
Believe you me ,this is precisely the perception of an increasing number of people out here.
JConrad: great to hear from you. Very very true :Friedman notwithstanding ,the world is far from being flat .
gyptian :
1.With the Left all set to pull the plug on the Deal , India is clearly headed for a snap mid-term poll.
Let's see what the voters , in the main, think of the Left's 'principled ' stand on the deal. And as far as 'riding rough shod' over the poor goes ,the Left Governments in West Bengal and Kerala have proved ,time and again ,that they are more than the equal of the Rightist parties , in this (dis) regard.( I should know -having spent a lifetime in both states . And having been friends with people in the uppermost echelons of the main Left party viz. the CPM.)
2.This particular part of the world has more going for it than Outsourcing , grinding poverty , fake 'godmen'- and a blind antipathy to all things Pakistani , Bangladeshi or Chinese ( or the Left for that matter).
3.Strange as it may seem ,there are many out here who subscribe to the view that the West is not to be trusted and that Westerners ,in general, are at best ,fair weather friends . ( This may come as a shock to you - but there wasn't too much sympathy ,out here ,for the US ,in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 .)
"and as usual another Chomsky column has been hijacked into another irrelevant discussion. Whether Chomsky is an anarchist has nothing to do with this column."
Agreed, and a guilty participant. A poster back when didn't understand why Chomsky was called an anarchist and I tried to help, inappropriate? maybe, but I've yet to see ANY article on this C-D site, that doesn't get hijacked in one way or another. I appreciate people, like yourself, who bring insight and well thought arguments to the topic at hand.
--"If the Indian "left" claims to be against poverty and/or terrorism, then why is televangelist Pat Robertson in love with them?"
I really dont know what you are talking about here. You are off on some tangent ... and as usual another chomsky column has been hijacked into another irrelevant discussion. Whether Chomsky is an anarchist has nothing to do with this column !!
JConrad, Chomsky is already studied as "one of the great Americans of his time", throughout much of the world, just not in the States.
I agree with your comments about his honesty, altruism, his kindness, and his commitment to reduce injustice and human suffering. He's an amazing person and a genuine inspiration.
I'm not sure what you mean by "smeared with idiot words like 'anarchist'".
Chomsky often speaks about anarchist thought and about how much he admires the tradition. It's a foundation from which much of his activism is fueled, though he doesn't go around shouting about it.
Anarchist thought has a long tradition and though the label "anarchist" has been misused by all aspects of the political spectrum, it still deserves a hearing, as much as socialism, communism, capitalism, etc.. Labeling "anarchist" an "idiot word" only fuels the misconception of a system of thought.
At some point in the future, Chomsky will be studied as one of the great Americans of his time.
If anything, he is a completely honest and altruistic human rights activist cutting through the endless lies used to cover the criminality of the American corporate military complex. His concern is to simply reduce injustice and human suffering.
Since he tells the truth he is often smeared with idiot words like "anarchist".
And despite his "intellectual" reputation, in person as a speaker he is a very unassuming, kind and thoughtful person.
Keep writing Noam, you are a great inspiration to the rest of us mere mortals of the written word.
And RKJT, many thanks for your slice of political enlightenment from the other side of a world that is round and not flat in spite of Friedman's propaganda.
We are all in this together.
If the Indian "left" claims to be against poverty and/or terrorism, then why is televangelist Pat Robertson in love with them? It's nothing but a fake left group. Back in the USSR, the reason it crumbled was due to not only an internal crumbling but the ABUSE of socialism/communism just like the US ABUSING the idea of capitalism. Back in India, there was a poll of the country's satisfaction with their current "left" leaning government and it was at a 70% disapproval rating. Sure, the right sucks at all things especially since the BJP was dancing with the Taliban in Afghanistan and caving in just like the Democrats caving in to Reagan and Bush for 27 years. No doubt the media probably made it all "trivial" news. However, to suggest that the fake "left" in India is any better is just as good as saying the fake "Democrats" in America are any better than the GOP. Even on socio-economic issues, the fake "left" in both these countries aren't getting their shit together. The fake "left" in India could care less about whether the deal goes through or not because they're backdoor puppets for the politicians and/or militants in China and Pakistan.
The indian political parties like their counterparts here in the West have 'sold out' years ago and thats not news. To claim the Left has sold them out is ridiculous. they are as culpable as the others. Given the context, what exactly did the Left have to gain by opposing the deal as they are already part of the ruling coalition ? And dont give me the bull about appeasing Pakistan and China.
--"Most of us aren't quite the lemmings you make us out to be."
Thats a sobering thought but the actions of the upper class ruling parties these last 15 years only shows that like elsewhere people vote for their class interests and manipulate the rest to do their bidding. At least the Left attempts to solve socio-economic issues while the right-wing parties that run roughshod over the vast majority have abandoned any pretext of 'serving the people'.
gyptian: "The Indian Left and their principles.."
Sorry to disabuse any notions you might have - but the Indian Left sold out long long ago. Ask any Indian -especially those below the 'poverty line' -(particularly in the states of West Bengal and Kerala ) and ,to a man ,they will all tell you that the Left's principles extend only to their individual 'bottom lines' . The Left Governments in both these states are perceived to be as corrupt and as inefficient as the 'best' among 'em.
"all the lemmings (the rich and the upper middle classes) have chosen to demonize the Left. This is pathetic and it seems Indians havent fully grasped how badly colonialism had damaged the psyche.'
Please credit us with more discernment and independence of thought than this. Most of us aren't quite the lemmings you make us out to be.
To demonize the Indian Left in their principled opposition to the Nuclear Deal is doing a disservice to the very idea of 'dissent'. The 'energy' the new nuclear deal provides only makes up for less than 5% of India's energy needs.
The 'real' deal is more to do with secondary technology etc. Nothing is going to change dramatically that hasnt already. India already has a couple of hundred nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles to deliver them all the way to China and Europe and maybe even here to US !
The Indian Left (despite some loonies) can clearly see the giant-sized American footprint on Indian foreign and domestic policy and has voiced its concerns. Instead of paying attention to the real issues, all the lemmings (the rich and the upper middle classes) have chosen to demonize the Left. This is pathetic and it seems Indians havent fully grasped how badly colonialism had damaged the psyche.
maxpayne:
Thank you so much for all you've said.
""I slowly learned that in the past there used to be a lot of healthy culturual exchanges among the Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, etc ."
You're absolutely right.Going by own immediate family's experience that was certainly true.
For example , two of the men who were junior to my late father in college ,went onto become Foreign Ministers of Pakistan. I seem to remember one of them Aga Hilaly ( father's good friend ) was even President of the Security Council ( in early 1968). His younger cousin ,Aga Shahi, had a longish stint as Foreign Minister.
Also my late uncle was the long time Principal of the Bombay School that Zulfikar Ali Bhutto attended.
Yet another close relation ,a Pothen Joseph was an associate of Jinnah -serving as Editor of his Newspaper. (His older brother George Joseph being one of Gandhiji's closest associates.)
The flip side of this : during the 1971 war ,a second cousin an Admiral Kuruvilla then commanding our Western Naval Fleet, led the successful attack on Karachi . The newsreel footage from that time ,show him seated on the bridge of his flagship jauntily puffing on a cigar.
And yes , we're Christians . In fact ,Syrian Christians from South India.
rebelnow. I guess I'm a victim of what you wrote about. I've always equated anarcy with lawlessness and disorder. I will check out the link you gave me. I have also just looked it up in a dictionary and it mentions how this word is often seen in a negative light, when all it means, roughly, is a society free of the need to be governed.
Like John S. Mill wrote about communism, I don't think we have evolved to a point where this would work on a wolrdwide scale. Perhaps in small groups, but not in a large population.
Thanks for the wake up call.
luckylefty. Thanks for reminding me of the fact that Dr. Chomsky is still alive is because he was never a threat to those in power. Whenever asked by an audience member what can we do about some certain issue, he never called for the masses to rise up and overthrow the government. He always replied that it was up to each individual to decide for themselves; be it through groups or political means or individual actions. I have never heard nor read him mention anything about violence as a solution. The media here in the US justs ignores him or portrays him in a negative light. Which also explains why so many people think so badly of Noam Chomsky: the MSM rarely cast him in a positive light. His word are taken out of context and tagged together in ways which make one think that he is some crazed or dangerous man. The only time I can think of was when an article was published fairly recently about Dr. Chomsky being considered by a group of his peers and others to be the world's leading intellectual alive.
How anyone could think of him as some evil person obviously has never taken the time to read any of his books, letters, essays, or listen to one of his debates or lectures.
You are correct when you say that all the "Powers that Be" need do is wait for him to die. I'm grateful to have been alive when such a brilliant person was was also alive. And I hope he's around for a number of years to come.
hybridoma2001,
Read "Chomsky on Anarchism" AK Press 2005. Also there are numerous interviews on youtube. Try typing in "Pateman Chomsky Anarchism", I think that interview is on youtube.
Your comment "I can only infer that he would like to see a world that is fair and at peace- I don't think that makes him an anarchist" Is a common misconception about anarchism. The corporate media and power elites like to keep that misconception alive. Anarchist thought is too threatening. People may actually try thinking for themselves and the centers of power can't have that.
I still haven't figured out how kerosene, e.g jet fuel that burns @ 1480c melts stuctural steel with a melting temp of say 2800c. I'm sure somebody from Popular Mechanics can explain that particular bit of magic to me. That and the forensic traces of sulphur and thermite which together form thermate? Which will cut through steel like butter.
Bad meat always smells. You may never know how it died or when, but bad meat always smells. Unfortunately, surrounded as we are by the rotting carcasses of our Bill of Rights and Constitution, it is difficult to separate one rotting piece of meat from another. And maybe they are connected.
Chomsky is alive & in print because he got his tenure early and never became a national leader in the US. He was not a Fred Hampton, or a Leonard Peltier, or a Jeronimo Jijaga Pratt, or even a Judi Bari. Chomsky has been a US media black-listed figure most of his career, not a threat.
Anyone around the globe can read and hear Chomsky. As long as he is unread and unseen in major media here, he is safe and the Masters can wait for him to die. In exchange he has been allowed to have a secure job, a home, a family and grandchildren instead of being systematically hounded into silence or suicide, falsely imprisoned thru cooked or planted evidence, or simply executed.
Frank Herbert in his Dune series has provided me almost as rich a trove of political understanding as Chomsky in his own way, to wit:
"The Bene Gesserits had codified the problem:
"A large populace held in check by a small but powerful force is quite a common situation in our universe. And we know the major conditions wherein this large populace may turn upon its keepers---
"One: When they find a leader. This is the most volatile threat to the powerful; they must retain control of leaders.
"Two: When the populace recognizes its chains. Keep the populace blind and unquestioning.
"Three: When the populace perceives a hope of escape from bondage. They must never even believe that escape is possible!" (Children of Dune, pg 108, 1967)
Chomsky has been regularly interviewed in the US over the past decade by Amy Goodman and for 40 years at Pacifica and they still have the archives.
Peace.
quark wrote:
Milesofmusic,
I just corresponded with Noam on the subject of the 9/11 conspiracies, telling him how exasperated I am that the conspiracy fanciers are still around and he said: "You should see the letters I'm getting".
-------------
i know that dr chomsky has been taken to task by some in the 9/11 truth movement - people like webster tarpley, but that is life.
these are crucially important issues and hair gets ruffled.
no one knows that better than professor chomsky.
if you talk to him again give him this message:
open letter to noam;
sir,
we love you. that is our first and most important message.
you are a special man who has dedicated his life to helping people the world over. you are wise, selfless and courageous beyond recrimination.
you, professor, are the best among us, you have enriched our lives through your speeches, essays and books.
you offer hope for all of us and i believe in you with my life, which you have helped to shape.
my only hope is that you stay with us here on planet earth for a long time to come and that you continue to share your thoughts with us.
and now for our last and still most important message;
we love you noam chomsky.
Saila: first, hello and all respects, you are a warrior on these posts and i salute you.
the 19 hijackers were identified in around 19 minutes. the official story is that mr atta's passport, in pristine condition, was recovered from the rubble of the streets of nyc. 2 - 100 story buildings were pulverized but the paper passport survived.
that clue, they say, lead them to atta's abandoned luggage which, they say, had lots of incriminating evidence tying him and his buddies to the heinous act.
that's the official story.
the real story is much uglier.
firstly, at least seven of the hijackers have turned up alive and well in the middle east. still alive. four of them have been on the bbc.
none the less, the list of hijackers has never been updated.
we were told that these boys were muslim fanatics who hated the united states "because of our freedoms".
but it turns out they were cia assets who had been under surveillance by the fbi, cia, and the mossad for at least a year prior to 9/11. they were alcoholics and cocaine addicts - not muslim fanatics. they frequented strip bars and acted more like american teenagers than religious devotees.
atta received one hundred thousand dollars on the 20th of august 2001 wired to him in florida via the ISI, the pakistani secret police.
saila, you noted that their pictures were all over the media within 30 minutes and this is true. it is also true that lee harvey oswald was outed in around the same time.
it is the standard patsy protocol.
these guys were set up, ready to go and i am quite sure they didn't know that.
we see in the assassination complex in the united ates a repeating pattern - patsies and fall guys.
oswald the crazed lone gunman kills the president
ruby the crazed lone gunman kills oswald - in a police station on national tv, no less.
ray the crazed lone gunman kills martin
sirhan the lone crazed gunman kills bobby
the lone crazed gunman kills rabbit kahane
and on and on
then we are asked to believe that 19 saudi boys - acted, virtually, as a group in the role of lone crazed gunman.
saila do you see a pattern here?
i feel your pain when you try to believe that americans could not do this act on fellow americans but you are wrong there.
not only could they but they did.
hard fact.
finding them will be difficult because they are in the shadows or as cheney likes to call it - the dark side.
9/11 truth movement will find them. we have the expertise and we have the will and we will not be deterred.
have faith and continue to believe saila, the truth will out!
all the best!
I have read eveything I could get my hands on by Noam Chomsky and I agree that he is the world's leading intellectual that the world is aware of.
I can't recall Dr. Chomsky every referring to himself as an anarchist. From all I have read by him or heard by him, I have only heard a man who points out facts in an objective way. I only can say that he tries to brings some awareness to those of us who aren't in a position to know so many things that have truly happened and are truly happening. And after producing the facts, he makes his own judgements based on those facts - just like we all do. From all of this, I can only infer that he would like to see a world that is fair and at peace - I don't think that makes him an anarchist.
He is human and will make mistakes or have incorrect conclusions based on what he knows. Again, just like we all do. I'm not perfect, he's not perfect - none of us is perfect. But overall, his predictions tend to be fairly accurate the majority of the time.
Lastly, on the issue of 9/11 and his opinion, I have to disagree with him for one simple reason: why has there never been a complete, unimpeded investigation of all that occurred that day? I'm not saying the USA did it but I am saying the US government knows much more about it than it (the government) wants the world to know. That fact alone leads me to believe there is much more that happened on 9/11 than our government wants us to know.
Actually, I do have one last thought to add to this post. People such as Noam Chomsky must be very careful these days. The intellectual class is the first to be rounded up and silenced in these times we're living in. I am sure Noam Chomsky is well aware of this. I'm surprised he is still alive and that someone hasn't already silenced him, whether it be the government or one of the many people who hate his critical views on US foriegn policy.
milesofmusic ,
I agree with your comment and, of course, I love Dr Chomsky too. Now that you mentioned 9/11, a question has been bothering me since that day, and I cannot find a logical answer for it.
None of the 19 hijackers or passengers survived the incident to talk about it, right? How the hell then did FBI know the complete names of all the hijackers with their pictures the same day? They were all over the newspapers and TV. Also, how did FBI confirm that on each plane they, and only they, were the hijackers? Guessed it by their Arabic names? Since those passengers had Arabic names, they must have been the terrorists? I'm not talking about what FBI found out later, but why all the names and pictures appeared so fast? One would think that it would take a couple of days to collect all that information, unless they already had prepared them.
I believe 9/11 was an inside job done by outside agents. Americans could not and would not do it because it involved killing Americans. Besides, eventually someone might spill the beans. This is probably how it happened, and the truth will never come out, like JFK case:
In one of the meetings between Ariel Sharon/Bush/Cheney, Mr Sharon told them the secret about the intelligence Mossad had about some young Arabs who wanted to use planes to hit the World Trade Center. To make the incident more horrifying, they decided to secretly bring in some Israeli demolition experts to put the explosives that would implode the buildings. The Israelis probably don't care about American life as long as something good would come out of that for their beloved Israel. That's why 9/11 would never be solved. The demolition experts are gone, and are not going to talk to mess up their country. Sharon is almost dead, even though he wouldn't talk were he alive.
That put Sharon in a position to blackmail Bush/Cheney. No wonder he said, "Americans do what we tell them to do."
RJKT,
That's awfully tragic but it sure goes to show why the left is no different from the right in their absolute refusal to tackle Al Quaida let alone the rest of the terror mongers. I came to learn having visited DC and talking with various Indian/Pakistani Americans that the terror groups were created by the US and Europe. Moreover, the UN, already corrupt as FrederickJohnson pointed out, never gets its human rights cries correct
I have visited China and India quite a few times myself and Pakistan once but have met a lot of Pakistani Americans who often prefer to not even think about their home country usually due to the horrors they experienced in their childhood. Just yesterday in the Washington Post was an article describing the green sludge water that is plaguing China. Moreover, with the way the Chinese are being used for slave-labor and with multinational corps BULLDOZING farmer lands, I cannot perceive how much longer China will tolerate this kind of travesty before they capitalize on their economic power over the US to force it to clean its act. As for Pakistan, like China, all these nuclear WMDs are doing nothing to help the working class. I'd be surprised if Pakistan even has a middle class let alone a sizable one that can be considered relevant. As for the US selling weapons to all the rogue nations out there and "free" trading with as many nations as it wants to crush, none of the benefits from all that dirty money are going towards repairing the severely DAMAGED infrastructure, education, healthcare, etc ... in this country just as Hurricane Katrina, Sago mine tragedy, the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, etc ... have shown.
P.S.: I'm married to an Indian American, herself a Christian but also kind-hearted on the whole matter. Her parents came from the North Indian territory. From her and some of the Indian priests I visited, I slowly learned that in the past there used to be a lot of healthy culturual exchanges among the Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs, etc ...
"is the possibility of India being courted as a counter balance to Pakistan in the event of a war between the USA and Iran'.
My response : India might well be courted . But -if it has an ounce of common sense - it would be absolutely ill-advised to succumb to the blandishments of the West.The chalice the West proffers being a truly poisoned one.
History has proved time and again ( incl. in the case of Saddam Hussain ) that ,in the ultimate analysis, the only thing that matters to the West is its own interests ( whatever they be).
And should it ever become necessary ,the West is perfectly capable of yanking the carpet from under the feet of India -or that of any other 'client/vassal ' state . Without the slightest compunction whatsoever.
South Korea and its people ( for some weird , unfathomable reason ) being perhaps the only exception to this.
I've been reading Erich Fromm's "The Heart of Man" recently. He hypothesizes that modern "homo mechanicus" is indifferent to life and would be willing to gamble it for the sake of more material possessions.It's all playing out on a global scale now. The most cynical and mechanical of people rise to the top of industrial-capitalistic societies. The leaders of India open its doors to Wal-Mart and Monsanto. They get rewarded with nukes to reassure it can defend itself against the automatons who control Pakistan and China respectively.
One aspect Chomsky didn't address directly is the possibility of India being courted as a counter balance to Pakistan in the event of a war between the USA and Iran. If America goes to war with Iran, the great fear is the triumph of radicalism in Pakistan as a result. Possibly India needed to be coaxed or seeing their opportunity when approached by the failure laden Bush administration, they insisted on acquiring what couldn't be gotten at any other time. In effect India said that if the USA wanted India as an ally in WW3 to counter Pakistan, then...
It wouldn't surprise me that Bush was first told no and then the ante was raised accordingly. By giving the non signatory exception, Bush subverts the treaty in it's entirety. Can India sell what it wants to others whom it may choose to embrace? In any case, Musharef's position is shaky and Bush wants war with Iran. Thus India had to be brought on board at ANY cost to counter a possibly hostile regime (if one arises) in Pakistan.
Chomsky writes about NPT and India's exception and people who have agendas can't even stick to the point of his article. It happens too often. What has India's nuclear exception to do with 9/11? Nothing. However neither shame nor a sense of integrity can stop those who are on a mission ... to be uncritical and repetitive about ... their mission. They could try to add something to the debate about the issues presented by the author but instead they glom on to progressive sites and while pretending they are progressive, they turn every article into a chance to reiterate their personal missions regardless of the subject being written about. One shameless person even says he read Chomsky and presumably he feels this gives his silly mission greater validity because of this special personal bond? Yeah okay.
Others, a small but concerted few who spout and spew hypocrisy. Somehow they always feel the need to bring up America and zionists in every post and when one of them does, the others reiterate in mutual support. Mercifully they didn't bring up jews this time, likely even they realized it would be hard to do that considering Chomsky is a jew. They have simplistic views and yet they think they are somehow profound the more they see them repeated. So they repeat them and each other...over and over.
maxpayne: "As far as making peace with Pakistan is concerned, the US and Britain HEAVILY armed and financed Pakistan with US taxpayer money and that needs to not only be stopped but also be taken back. You can't expect India to make peace with a US-backed terrorist nation. "
FrederickJohnson: "If Britain and the US hadn't divided India and Pakistan, it would have been harder to put a Cold War case against USSR. ...Pakistan has shown the US and Europe just what kind of a terror harbouring nation it can be."
As an Indian , who has seen this cynical, sordid Great Game played out before one's very eyes over the past 50 and odd years - I couldn't agree more.
Just before she left ,Britain fired the deadliest Parthian shot ever - and set India and Pakistan at each other's throats for centuries to come .
For much of one's lifetime one has seen Pakistan being patted on the back by the US . One incident in particular illustrates this mind-set more vividly than anything else. In 1961 , as VP ,Lyndon Johnson visited Pakistan ( then ruled by the miltary dictator Ayub Khan ) . While there ,he made one of those grandiloquent gestures ( patronizing in the extreme )-and so very typical of the American Establishment. He extended an official invitation to a obscure Baluchi Camel driver ( selected on a whim ). The man ( who had never before seen a big city -much less flown in a plane ) was given a red-carpet welcome in Washington . Met President Kennedy , and Members of Congress ,and was wined, dined and feted by Washington's elite .
Why - because Pakistan was one of 'the good guys' and 'our steadfast ally' against the Evil ( Soviet )Empire .Well the 's**t' has since then hit the ceiling - to the chagrin of the West.
Back to the Nuclear Deal - India needs power and lots of it -as soon as possible. Therefore the public perception out here seems to be in overwhelmingly in favour of the deal. The ones bitterly opposed to it are the countries that stand to lose the most should this deal ever go through - viz. China and Pakistan .Who remain India's bitterest foes.
(Fortunately for these two countries , their staunchest allies are India's left parties -who are even prepared to go all the way and bring down India's government if need be -in order to torpedo this deal once and for all. )
Imagine their luck .Having their very own Quisling . That too ,at the very top of their enemy's power structure . A Quisling who is prepared to go all the way and bring down their enemy -without their even having to fire a shot.
Could China and Pakistan ask for more.
---"Whatever Iranians and Americans may think about nuclear-free zones, Chomsky also has to account for a thousand million Indians. He should be aware that India will not disarm unless China disarms and China will not disarm unless Russia and the US disarm."
This is absolutely correct. I think Chomsky is right about his analysis when the situation is evaluated in a sterile bubble where right and wrong can be ascertained accordingly. The ground reality however is very different. This deal has more to do with high-technology rather than nuclear weapons or energy. The 'secondary' technology that India has been refused so far will be made available.
---"It is vital for India -in its long term interest to step away from this treaty and remain aloof to the temptations of 'anti-terrorism' legislation." iyamwituiam
I totally second this statement. In the long term this deal will only hurt India, its too easy to be seduced by the devil !
as for this masterpiece by alexlawyer
---"There are two other reasons to oppose this foul neoconservative betrayal of principle"
Principle ??!! What principle ?! This is the United states we are talking about. Principle has nothing to do with anything ... besides where is the 'principle' involved when one nuclear armed state offers another nuclear armed state better technology ... its not like India doesnt have nuclear weapons !! Get a grip ...
rebelnow writes:
milesomusic,
usually i agree with your comments but I think taking this opportunity to bring up 911 here, with Chomsky, is a cheap shot. Aren't Chomsky's dire warnings in this article enough? Are you not outraged about what he is saying?
-------
no its not a cheap shot because i have stated my love and respect for dr chomsky.
i have read over 20-30 of his books.
with respect, the 9/11 truth "thing" is the most germaine issue of the day. it is the rubicon of the war on terrorism, the war that lasts forever, and as such, is more insane than even the nuclear question.
the situation in india as chomsky points out relates directly to this phantom and insane war.
fact is, we will not be able to prevent nukes from being passed around. which is not to say i like that or agree with it.
(keep in mind though and never forget, the only country ever to have used nukes is the united states)
dr chomsky casts the american government as the lead evil in this play and the 9/11 truth movement is seeking - alone in the wilderness - to undo him. please don't tell me you are waiting for either the democrats or hillary to do it.
but let me make clear - to me - noam chomsky is pure gold.
as i said, no disrespect and no ill well.
his disbelief has made me go back and re-assess my thoughts around 9/11 but i am resolute.
when 9/11 is finally undone as a false flag event - the road to the great american healing will be made clear.
there is nothing more important than that considering bush has declared war on the entire world and must be stopped.
we are hopelessly indebted to noam chomsky for his life's work and i love him for his sacrifice in that regard. his 9/11 views do not diminish him in my eyes whatsoever.
9/11 is not going to go away. neither is the 9/11 truth movement.
we shall be honored whenever it is that dr chomsky joins us, as i know he will.
one day.
til that day, we will still be here when bush declares martial law and we will continue to struggle for the constitution of the united states of america, which we understand to bestow upon us inalienable rights.
rights that cannot be rescinded by either george bush or dick cheney, or david rockerfeller for that matter.
until we are vindicated or dead.
as the spartans said: with your shield or on it.
In my view- I don't think this deal will get done. Despite - so called generous terms for India by the United States- India will lose a lot politically.
First of all - as an ex-leader in the Non-Aligned Movement -the credibility it seeks as an Asian power - will be overnight reduced and allow China to usurp leadership of many nations - such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma etc- and this perception will cost India - hundreds of billions in trade.
I also agree that closer alignment with the US is dangerous for India as the temptation that has been embraced by many nations to label genuine dissident citizens as 'terrorists' will cause short term consolidation of power for the usual pandering politicians whose only goal is to help themselves to the public till. In a country as diverse as India this is surely the first step towards future instability. It is not just Muslims who can be easily led with rhetoric of independence further nurturing the seeds of self deconstruction by the British but also Sihks, Nagas etc etc.
It is vital for India -in its long term interest to step away from this treaty and remain aloof to the temptations of 'anti-terrorism' legislation.
Chomsky is 76
Long live Chomsky (Despite his reluctance on 9/11)
I have a "Chomsky Library" Some written with another stalwart, Edward Herman.
In the age of nuclear weapons, we either talk to each other or we all die!
sierra
milesomusic,
usually i agree with your comments but I think taking this opportunity to bring up 911 here, with Chomsky, is a cheap shot. Aren't Chomsky's dire warnings in this article enough? Are you not outraged about what he is saying?
Daniel Shays
I haven't noticed the ballistic behavior about anarchism but I have noticed a lack of discussion about it. Chomsky says he's and anarchist with a social libertarian approach. I'm still trying to understand what that means.
Long Live Shays Rebellion!
milesofmusic "educate the sleeping masses." ??
Who are the sleeping masses milesofmusic?..anyone who doesn't agree with you?
It always amazes me how self-proclaimed progressives claim to be so superior while pretending to give a shit about the 'masses'. The amount of hatred and people bashing that goes on around here is astounding. Not too much hypocrisy here, huh, folks?
Now that I said that I expect I'll get muted or banned.
BTW, Chomsky is an anarchist. Usually if a person mentions anarchism on this site everyone goes ballistic.
If Chomsky thinks that not acceding to a treaty makes one an outlaw, he needs to think twice. The NPT is a badly flawed treaty for a reason he noted - that the nuclear states have not met their obligation to disarm. Some indication that that would happen was India's condition to accede to the treaty.
Secondly, Pakistan and China have broken the rules already. Thus there is no question of this treaty inducing someone to break the rules.
Whatever Iranians and Americans may think about nuclear-free zones, Chomsky also has to account for a thousand million Indians. He should be aware that India will not disarm unless China disarms and China will not disarm unless Russia and the US disarm.
The deal requires India to make a very clear distinction between its civilian and military nuclear programs and all civilian programs will be in perpetuity under IAEA safeguards. So some of Chomsky's fears are unfounded.
Whether or not Congress derails the Indo-American deal, it will not solve the problem of nuclear weapons in South Asia. Only global disarmament will. This is unfortunately not a problem that can be solved piecemeal.
Perhaps readers may be interested in this:
http://www.saag.org/%5Cpapers25%5Cpaper2404.html
Of course Noam Chomsky delivers an intellectual piece worthy of serious discourse. The much bigger picture is why his writings/words are absent in US media.
Question US policy on the most basic level and be shut out of all but a tiny few US media outlets. Wisdom is barred in the United States.
Milesofmusic,
I just corresponded with Noam on the subject of the 9/11 conspiracies, telling him how exasperated I am that the conspiracy fanciers are still around and he said: "You should see the letters I'm getting". In a way it's heartbreaking to see what the self appointed 'truth movement' lets pass for fact. Those still capable of sorting myth from fact - there are real criteria!! - check out a site like http://911myths.com. If you really want to dig in read the book by scientist Ryan Mackey who takes David Ray Griffin apart on 200 pages (free online, to be found eg http://911myths.com/drg_nist_review_1_1.pdf ). If you have any standards of evidence as practiced in real science and engineering it will become apparent that the truth movement does not care for truth, they simply dish out garbarge. Griffin, for one, claims the WTC buildings were brought down with explosives, and yet he has no seismic record, not thousands of witnesses for the sights and sounds (instead just a handful of clueless witnesses whose utterings he misconstrues), no chemical residues, no left of detonation chords, nothing. I repeat: NOTHING. Question: should we trust folks who can't even handle evidence and hypotheses in a scientific way and prefer to rehash their implausible, impossible and refuted ideas, just because we generally agree that the Bush administration is a ruthless lot? Not if the evidence is not not supporting it. I've just today seen a postcard from the movement listing ten 'facts'. Facts, my ass! I've seen every one of them, and if you dig a little they all fall apart as either false, misinterpreted or true but irrelevant. Example: the oft repeated 'fact' that the metals were not examined but sold for scrap and shipped to Asia asap. Not true: everything was screened for telltale signs of damage, as were key structural elements, which were then kept for analysis, the unassuming rest was scrapped (why keep it?). A good example how the TM turns something into something else. Do not trust these folks. They are just regurgitating the stuff they've seen in their books. If any of it had any value its authors could have had it published in any number of peer reviewed science/engineering journals anywhere on this planet. The cold fact that they have not done so is proof that they have nothing to show for. A conspiratorial mind might still imagine that peer review in a US journal might unfairly keep out folks trying to make the case for a different scenario of how the towers came down. Then why not elsewhere?
There are two other reasons to oppose this foul neoconservative betrayal of principle: the Indian government's policy of doing business with, supporting and arming the repressive, murderous Burmese regime and the possibility that India will again be ruled by the far right wing, Hindu nationalist BJP. That party sponsored a genocide in Gujarat in 2002 that killed over 2000 Muslims, yet the organizations responsible have not been classified as terrorists. Meanwhile, Muslim organizations whose links to violence are tenuous at best are so classified. Aiding the nuclear capabilities of such a reckless and violent gang of thugs could come back to haunt south Asia--and us.
Any deal on nukes that promotes them needs to derailed, thats for sure. The USA is a signatory to many international agreements and has arbitrarily disregarded just as many of them. The fact that the USA is a travesty of itself is obvious to everyone who lives outside it's borders, and to anyone who gives a shit inside it's borders. From Non Proliferation Treaty to Geneva Conventions to God only knows what else they have violated, the country as is cannot be trusted.
So what is one to do? Anyone got any good quick suggestions that are easily understood and are inexpensive to implement and can be practiced in a totalitarian society? How do you remove fascism from your own neck?
Well said Zoya! You summed up half the story.
The US takes convenient advantage of extreme asymmetries in the world. Military dominance is one, the other is dollar hegemony. The dollar is the world reserve currency. Most oil and weapons transactions are forced to exchange in dollars. Most countries hold to debt limits (e.g. Europe holds to 3%) while the US borrows with impunity. Looking down the barrel of the US military-industrial complex, other countries are held to their debts while the US has no intention of paying its debts.
With the world economy dependent on a strong dollar the US can continue to have extreme imbalance (asymmetry) of trade, leaving its partners with nothing to do with the dollars we give them but to invest them back into US Treasury Bills. This enables the US to grow its military dominance, financed by the rest of the world.
We build the weapons. We print the money. It's a very sly way to build a worldwide empire.
This is relevant to the Chomsky article above because weapon and dollar asymmetry is more easily maintained in a climate of fear. Terror is the best friend of US imperialism. ... And it's so cheap and easy to cause it or encourage it.
Zoya said it perfectly.
Unless we rose with a unified voice, the U.S. government inc. will never stop making nuclear weapons because there's too much money, too much business at stake. And the more afraid we are, the less freedoms we demand and the fewer questions we ask. An authoritarians regime's dream come true.
maxpayne is correct. India will always be stuck in "developing" status no matter what happens. If Britain and the US hadn't divided India and Pakistan, it would have been harder to put a Cold War case against USSR. In any case, the USSR was crumbling from within all the while Pakistan has shown the US and Europe just what kind of a terror harbouring nation it can be. No Pakistani American has ever even dreamed of going back to Pakistan to visit let alone move back.
As far as the nuclear deal goes, there's really no benefit for any of these countries. The deal is a sham to begin with given that the US is quick to enable China and Pakistan faster and greater and not a peep from either the left or the right about it. Even if the US and the UN, both corrupt, were actually successful in sanctioning Iran, there's nothing to stop countries such as China, Pakistan, and even Saudi Arabia from stealing the nuclear stuff from Iran and turning them into weapons.
Frederick Johnson,
Spartanburg, SC
Cheneybush sits at the center of this web of international nuclear connections like some huge black spider. It will not be satisfied until it has started Cold War II, complete with nuclear arms race, so that the US can reclaim its former, Cold War I status as heroic superpower. It's the only way of guaranteeing the longterm wellbeing of its rapacious military-industrial complex.
This isn't going to change unless every state in the American union assumes responsibility for dismantling its arms industry. But this is unlikely, given the sacrifice in local jobs and revenue it would require.
Therefore, the peoples of Planet Earth and their children and their grandchildren can look forward to living in a constant state of fear, while a multinational aristocracy rapes and pillages the natural and human resources of every nation around the globe.
Nice work, Cheneybush!
The author of this article is TOTALLY forgetful that regardless of what this crummy Indo/US deal is all about, China and Pakistan are already breaking as many laws as they can.
As far as making peace with Pakistan is concerned, the US and Britain HEAVILY armed and financed Pakistan with US taxpayer money and that needs to not only be stopped but also be taken back. You can't expect India to make peace with a US-backed terrorist nation. As it is, India's infrastructure has yet to develop well enough let alone advance and the farmers and the working class, thanks to the unAmerican multinationals, are being forced into SEVERE bankrupty even to the point of committing suicide ! Unemployment in that country has actually gone up faster even with all the outsourcing to that country the US has done. The West (Europe, Canada, US, etc ...) need to get their act together and fundamentally revise their policies which have for too long harboured terrorism and the urge for more WMDs.
chomsky is a special man. seems like he has been around forever (he is in his eighties) and he has always been on the vanguard of efforts to educate the sleeping masses.
many of his books have been the building blocks of the modern mind set and his works have given us a means to deal with and to put in perspective a lot of the structure of the world.
in short, he is a great man.
he has honor and integrity.
no question.
chomsky does not believe in the false flag event of 9/11. he does not believe the republicans would risk their party's future - he doesn't believe it logistically could have been pulled off.
with respect professor; you are wrong about that.
he fully understands and has spoken/written about the traction gained by the bush/nazi/rockerfeller/banker (etc) coup and he understands better than most that the loss of civil liberties went hand in hand with that event.
turns out that the knee bone is, in fact, connected to the thigh bone.
this was true in china, russia, us, and burma (myanmar). every repressive regime in the world gained through 9/11.
no one more than the nwo/zionist/neocon (quite a con at that) factions in the us.
i am saddened that he does not see the inside job of 9/11.
it is a lapse in judgment. in terms of his career, it is like the fumble on the two yard line with five seconds left in the game, down five points.
he is none the less a hero of mine and i hope he rethinks his position in the fullness of time as his would be a powerful voice to add to the 9/11 truth movement.
it is referred to in the posts about the dollar being "the" currency of the world.
with little to no fanfare the dollar has lost - what - 40% - of value in the last year. the american dollar is now lower than the canadian dollar, the canadian dollar used to be worth .61 cents amercian.
canada, by the way, has not surged - it is all sag on the dollar's part.
oddly, the chinese are financing the war in iraq - 720 billion/day.
the chinese hold 400 billion in tbills. they have lost 120 billion.
the japanese hold 500 billion...
the saudis a trillion...
all fiat - paper - and increasingly worthless.
backed up by nothing except american guns and bombs.
here's the deal - the bankers, the illuminati, zionists, whatever you want to call them have decided that the us is going down - big time. things like the ninja mortgages and the other financial scams we see daily are simply these folks racking up the credit card before the proverbial shit hits the fan.
they have, as lou dobbs often reports, re-invested in china and india and i don't think they give a fuck about the us anymore.
you sleepy little fuckers should think that over before you pack your son's or daughter's bag for iran.
ps: if you send them anyway, give them their own body armor, its too expensive an item for the military to provide.
finally, professor chomsky, if you are listening, click here:
http://st911.org/
and all the best!