The NS Interview: Noam Chomsky

“President Obama is involved in war crimes right now”

Do you consider yourself to be primarily a scientist or a political activist?
If the world would go away, I would be happy to keep to the science, which is much more interesting and challenging. But the world has an unfortunate habit of not going away and the problems are quite urgent.

What are your thoughts on President Obama?
He's involved in war crimes right now. For example, targeted assassinations are war crimes. That's escalated quite sharply under Obama. If you look at WikiLeaks, there are a lot of examples of attacks on civilians.

What did you think when he was given the Nobel Peace Prize?
Considering the history of the Nobel Peace Prize, it's not the worst example. It was given to him before he had the time to commit many war crimes.

Is there any point in us being in Afghanistan?
We wouldn't have asked in 1985: "Is there any point in the Russians being in Afghanistan?" The fact is that the invasion was a crime. Then comes the question: "Is there any point in continuing?" But that presupposes legitimacy. Putting aside questions of morality and legality and simply asking about the goals of the US government is a very narrow consideration.

What would you like to see happen next in Afghanistan?
There has to be an internal political settlement. Like it or not, the warlords and the Taliban are Afghans, so there has to be a settlement among them. The regional powers also have to be involved, including Pakistan, India and the US - because it's there, not because it belongs there.

Do you worry about Obama's lack of experience in foreign policy?
I don't think that experience is a very useful or convincing attribute for a sensible foreign policy. Henry Kissinger had a lot of experience. [And he still became involved in] the major mass murders in Cambodia.

Is the focus of US foreign policy right?
Let's take the main focus: the Iranian threat. The brutal, clerical regime is a threat to its own population, but it's hardly unique in that respect. The threat to the US came in the presentations to Congress by Pentagon officials in April - they pointed out that the threat is not military; it's to the "stability" of the region.

Do you agree with that assessment?
It's imperial doctrine. Stability is when the UK and US invade a country and impose the regime of their choice. But if Iran tries to interfere, that's destabilising.

What do you make of David Cameron?
It's too early to say much. I haven't been greatly impressed by his policies or his statements.

He recently identified the UK as the junior partner in the "special relationship".
That's too bad for England. It's been a very injurious relationship for England for a long time.

Do countries such as Bolivia have lessons to teach the rest of the world?
Yes. The poorest country in South America, Bolivia had been devastated by neoliberal economic policies. In recent years, the majority of the population won significant battles against privatisation of water. They then entered the political arena and elected someone from their own ranks, and people really engaged with the issues. Their economic growth is now, I think, the best in Latin America.

Are you optimistic about the future of the left?
I don't think it makes much sense to be optimistic, but there's not much point in speculating, either. Either way, the tasks are the same.

Do you vote?
I often do, without much enthusiasm. In the US, there is basically one party - the business party. It has two factions, called Democrats and Republicans, which are somewhat different but carry out variations on the same policies. By and large, I am opposed to those policies. As is most of the population.

What would you like to forget?
There are a lot of things I regret - for example, the Indochina war. I was deeply involved with it, facing a long jail sentence. But I deeply regret that I didn't get involved until the mid-1960s, which was much too late.

Was there a plan?
Well, I had some general guidelines. They're so banal I hate to say them. But what's not banal is applying them in particular situations.

Are we all doomed?
If there was an observer on Mars, they would probably be amazed that we have survived this long. There are two problems for our species' survival - nuclear war and environmental catastrophe - and we're hurtling towards them. Knowingly. This hypothetical Martian would probably conclude that human beings were an evolutionary error.

51 comments

Candida's picture

Nice article ! Keep up the good work !

Tratament candida Candida Candidoza

mbrecker's picture

Good for the NS for posting this. You realize in the States aside from one paper, Chomsky doesn't exist to the MSM.

Jules Siegel's picture

"There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party … and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat. Republicans are a bit stupider, more rigid, more doctrinaire in their laissez-faire capitalism than the Democrats, who are cuter, prettier, a bit more corrupt — until recently… and more willing than the Republicans to make small adjustments when the poor, the black, the anti-imperialists get out of hand. But, essentially, there is no difference between the two parties." -- Gore Vidal, writing in the 1970s, excerpted from Matters of Fact and of Fiction
Gore Vidal » The Property Party.

LOL's picture

We are evolutionary errors, look at US Congress. All errors.

Bab's picture

Wow Peter you're clearly clueless. Did the Afghan war have a UN mandate back in 2001? No. And the Taliban are most certainly Afghan, primarily from the Pashtun ethnic group. Oh and since the US Administration was so sure about Bin Laden and 9/11 why did it take the FBI over a year after the invasion to come up with an unsatisfactory conclusion? Why didn't they provide the Taliban with proof Bin Laden was behind 9/11? You know why they didn't? Cause they didn't have any decent hard evidence. It was circumstantial at best, you don't invade countries over that. Now they want to establish long term bases in Afghanistan (something they failed to do in Iraq). Sorry what was the reason behind invading Afghanistan again? ;-)

fairplay's picture

TD has a crush on glenn beck. mentions him in every post!

rock on noam!!!!!!

blanrue's picture

VERSION ANGLAISE DU COMMUNIQUÉ :

Press Release from Prof. Jean Bricmont and Mr Paul-Éric Blanrue
(September 8, 2010)

NOAM CHOMSKY

supports the petition

for the repeal of the Gayssot Act

and the release from prison of Vincent Reynouard!

The petition demanding the repeal of the Gayssot Act and the release from prison of the revisionist Vincent Reynouard, launched on the Internet on August 6 at the initiative of the historian Paul-Eric Blanrue (http://abrogeonslaloigayssot.blogspot.com), has now received some noteworthy support indeed with the signature of the American linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky.
"I understand that Vincent Reynouard has been condemned and jailed under the Gayssot law, and that a petition is being circulated in protest against these actions," wrote the tireless defender of freedom of expression in a statement of September 5. Mr Chomsky had been in France last spring for a conference at the College de France and various other events.
"I know nothing about Mr. Reynouard, but regard the Gayssot law as entirely illegitimate, inconsistent with the basic principles of a free society as these have been understood since the Enlightenment," he added.
Noam Chomsky pointed out that "this law in effect grants the state the right to determine historical truth and to punish departure from its edicts, a principle reminiscent of the dark days of Stalinism and Nazism."
Mr Chomsky ended his statement by lending his support to French historian Blanrue’s initiative: "Accordingly, I would like to register my support for the petition protesting the application of this law in this (or any) case”.
Passed on July 13, 1990, the Gayssot Act forbids the "disputing (...) of the existence of one or more crimes against humanity as defined by Article 6 of the charter of the international military tribunal [known as that of Nuremberg], annexed to the London Agreement of 8 August 1945. "
In 2007 the revisionist Vincent Reynouard, father of eight children, was sentenced by a court in Saverne (Alsace) to a year in prison for having written a 16-page pamphlet entitled Holocauste ? Ce que l’on vous cache… (Holocaust? Here’s what’s being hidden from you…) The following year that sentence was upheld by the Court of Appeal in Colmar, which also imposed a fine and damages amounting to a total of 60,000 euros. Mr Reynouard is currently detained in the prison of Valenciennes.
Amongst the first of those to sign the petition, who, let us recall, do not, in so doing, support Vincent Reynouard’s ideas but merely defend his right to express them, are:
Paul-Eric Blanrue, historian (France / Italy); Jean Bricmont, professor of physics at the Université Catholique of Louvain, essayist (Brussels); Dieudonné M'Bala M'Bala, humorist (Paris); John Bastardi Daumont, barrister (Nice); Chris Laffaille, writer, journalist, former deputy editor of Paris Match (Paris); Albert Salon, doctor of letters, former ambassador ; Tristan Edern Vaquette, artist (Paris); Jean-Guy Allard, journalist, writer (Havana); Patrick Berger, doctor of physics, Université de Paris-Est-Créteil, president of the Circle Zététique (Paris); Marco Pietteur, editor (Belgium); Bruno Roy-Henry, historian, author of Napoleon: l’Enigme de l’Exumé de Sainte-Hélène (Paris); Gérard Lecha, sociologist and writer, columnist for Le Libertaire under the nickname "Père Chat” (Paris); Jean-Claude Manifacier, professor, Université des Sciences de Montpellier (France); Alain Marliac, honorary research director at the IRD, doctor of prehistory ; Max Cabantous, lecturer emeritus, Université de Montpellier III (France); Michel Bizouard, honorary professor at the Université de Bourgogne (Jambles, France); Laurent James, writer (Marseille); Rashid Shahin, writer and journalist (Bethlehem, Palestine); Hiyam Haddad, university lecturer (London); Géraldine Hilaire, actress (Chilly-Mazarin, France); Daniel McGowan, professor emeritus, Hobart and William Smith Colleges (Geneva, New York); Syed A R Zaidi, professor of philosophy (ret’d), University of Delhi (India); Dr Hamdy Abdo Elhinnawy, economist (Egypt); George Salzman, professor emeritus of theoretical physics, University of Massachusetts (Boston); Caroline Henaff, journalist (Paris); Diana Johnstone, journalist (Paris); Robyn Johannes, president of the Union of Atheists (Brussels); Marc Laudelout, director of the Bulletin Célinien (Belgium); Jean-Yves Le Gallou, former MEP, director of the Fondation Polémia (Paris); Franck Abed, writer, essayist (Val d'Oise, France); Patrice Authier, jazz pianist (Paris); Johan Livernet, journalist, author (Toulon, France); Koffi Cadjehoun, writer (Nancy),...
The full list of signatories, including to date over a thousand names, will be put online by the end of this year on the website http://abrogeonslaloigayssot.blogspot.com.
Signing will continue until then.

Millman's picture

He is right that there is only one party. That brittle party of Dems and Repubs will break if it doesn't soon respond to the flexible and dynamic needs of the people. It is failing hard now.

Yes, I am a populist. Read and listen to Gravel and Kucinich. Alas, it is now so late in the game that even their good advice has litle chance of success. I do not believe in miracles. We are so, soooo ... you know.

It is a nuclear world of our own making folks. Live it while we can.

Mel Davis's picture

Obama has single-handedly restored America's reputation in the wider world. When he was in office, America's standing in the world was at an all time low. All anyone seems to focus on are his faults.

Thomas Devine's picture

@Mano;

Unless you're a member of the "TEA PARTY PATRIOTS" or a similar pack of far-right loons, tax evaision isn't political. There were people who died by government sponcered violence in America in the 1960 and early 70's. Chomsky was merely trying to make himself look important and hip.

Chomsky used to right brilliant analyses of how power worked and hid its workings. He has long since ditched analysis for the same kind of rants that Beck and Limbaugh live by.

He was a hero, now he's a zero. Sad but true.

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