‘Re-missioning’ the War in Iraq, and the Supreme International Crime (Interview w/ Noam Chomsky)

[marmar]

from In These Times:



Features > July 29, 2008 > Web Only
Gunning for the Prize
‘Re-missioning’ the War in Iraq, and the Supreme International Crime

By Roger Bybee


U.S leaders and media have failed to offer a "principled critique" of the invasion and occupation of Iraq, says Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Why don't we apply the Nuremberg principles to ourselves? The question is so deeply hidden that it would be incomprehensible to the educated classes .Share Digg del.icio.us Reddit Newsvine Noam Chomsky is one of the world’s most quoted people, but his forceful criticism of U.S. policy has often made him a pariah in U.S. media, which find his views far beyond the bounds of acceptable opinion. Even the liberal American Prospect, before opposition to the Iraq War became widespread, ran the headline, “Between Chomsky and Cheney” on its cover in March 2005.

As he does in this interview, Chomsky consistently steps outside the narrow confines of the conventional Democratic-Republican spectrum. He outlines how the Nuremburg Tribunals following World War II established principles under which U.S. officials — including Bush and Cheney — should be found guilty of war crimes for the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and challenges Barack Obama on whether his plan for Iraq will mean a real withdrawal of U.S. forces. And he questions whether elite politicians and media pundits will ever see U.S. foreign policy as anything other than benevolent.

Chomsky’s writings, which include dozens of books on U.S. foreign policy, are notable for his scrutiny of original government source materials, which locates damning admissions about the true goals of U.S. policy, and his careful distinction between the opinions of elite policy-makers and media and those of the majority of Americans.

Although he has stirred up enormous controversies, Chomsky is a soft-spoken, grandfatherly 79-year-old who first rose to prominence as a professor of linguistics at MIT. But during the Vietnam War, he emerged as one of the most provocative voices calling into account the U.S. government and the multinational corporations with which it is so closely aligned. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3831/gunning_for_a_prize/

[mike3121]

1. Noam Chomsky's Rant

He is a true die hard Stalinist communist. To him no communist state has ever done anything wrong - ever. From Stalin to Moa they are all innocent. If there were a few "innocent mistakes" made along they way they were all done in a good cause. "The ends justify the means."

[NMDemDist2]

2. that's quite a stretch

he is a leftist for sure, but doubt he's ever advocated a Stalinist style of government.

[bemildred]

3. I gather you know something about rants. nt