Referring to the Nuremberg War Crimes Tribunal, Chomsky illustrates the point that the since the Allies were the victors, they determined what constituted a war crime. "The tribunal had to decide what would be considered a war crime, and they made the operational definition of a war crime anything the enemy did that the Allies didn't do." Blessed with the self-granted freedom to make up their own rules, the Allies determined that bombing urban centers and killing hundreds of thousands of women and children did not qualify as criminal behavior. Thus, the carefully calculated firebombing of Dresden and Tokyo and the atomic bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima went unpunished, reducing the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals to ludicrous acts of hypocrisy.
Building on the theme of hypocrisy, Chomsky revisits the Bush regime's policy of preventive war. He points out that Henry Kissinger approved of the doctrine so long as it did not become "a universal principle available to every nation." With the illegal Iraqi invasion, the United States has established its perverse right to invade a sovereign nation on a whim, but reserves that right as a privilege granted only unto them.
Coupling with the preventive war policy is the Bush regime's decree that "those who harbor terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists themselves." Examining this striking statement with his penetrating analysis, Chomsky quickly discards nations that are "harboring heads of state" because "if we include them, the discussion reduces to absurdity in no time." Focusing on "groups or individuals officially regarded as terrorists", Chomsky cites several examples living freely today within the United States. Orlando Bosch, who was involved in destroying a Cuban airliner and killing 73 people, and whom the Justice Department wanted to deport, was the recipient of a presidential pardon at the behest of Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Chomsky also points to Emmanuel Constant as a terrorist finding safe harbor in the United States. Despite his murder of several thousand Haitians, the United States will not extradite him.
Stretching back a bit in history, Chomsky briefly discusses the Cold War. Embedded in this discourse are more valuable nuggets of information. He reveals (based on previously sealed documents in Russian archives) that the Russians knew that the goal of the United States during the Cold War was "to spend them (the Russians) into economic destruction by compelling them to enter an arms race they couldn't survive--remember, their economy was much smaller than ours." As the military industrial complex was gearing up to become a money-making machine for corporate America and its complicit politicians, the United States chose to take the world to the brink of nuclear war rather than attempting to negotiate a treaty with its reluctant opponent in the arms race. How typical of the Empire.
He holds a special place in his heart for our 40th president
"When enemies commit crimes, they're crimes. In fact, we can exaggerate and lie about them with complete impunity. When we commit crimes, they didn't happen. And you see that very strikingly in the cult of Reagan worship, which was created through a massive propaganda campaign. Reagan's regime was one of murder, brutality, and violence, which devastated a number of countries and probably left two hundred thousand people dead in Latin America, with hundreds of thousands of orphans and widows. But this can't be mentioned here. It didn't happen."
Professor Chomsky elaborates on the deeply criminal nature of the Reagan administration. One example he provides is John Negroponte, who is currently the Director of National Intelligence for the United States, and who acted as Reagan's "point man" as ambassador to Honduras. According to Chomsky, Negoponte's tasks included supervising "the camps in which the mercenary army was being trained, armed, and organized to carry out the atrocities (in Nicaragua), atrocities for which it was condemned by the World Court." Chomsky also points out Reagan's policy of "constructive engagement" with the government of South Africa, in spite of its Apartheid policies, and the Reagan regime's claim that Nelson Mandela's African National Congress was one of the "more notorious terrorist groups" in the world.
Chomsky arrives at two particularly entertaining conclusions about Reagan:
1. "Again the kindest thing you can say about Reagan is that he probably didn't know what he was saying."
2. "Reagan was an incredible coward."
He also observes that Reagan was not a popular president. He cites Reagan's Gallup poll ratings during his presidency as being "roughly average, below every one of his successors, except for Bush II." Chomsky points out that "by 1992, Reagan had become the most unpopular living former president apart from Richard Nixon." He uses the atrocities committed under Reagan, the ineptitude of the man, and his lackluster poll results as evidence of the power of the US propaganda machine, which has been able to beatify this miscreant in the minds of many Americans.
Continuing his discussion on the power and the mechanisms of "imperial propaganda", Chomsky arrives at another sparkling conclusion:
"It was well understood, long before George Orwell, that memory must be repressed. Not only memory but consciousness of what's happening right in front of you must be repressed, because if the public comes to understand what's being done in its name, it probably won't permit it."
Erudition, activism, and dissent are his hallmarks
The further I got into Imperial Ambitions, the more I realized how far Chomsky's knowledge base extends, and how much of his criticism of the US government extends beyond foreign policy. For example, he comments briefly on the surprisingly large and dangerous segment of the US population which practices fundamentalist Christianity (the Religious Right, if you will):
"There is nothing like it in any other industrial country. And Bush has to keep throwing these people red meat to keep them in line. While they're getting shafted by Bush's economic and social policies, he's got to make them think he's doing something for them. But throwing red meat to that constituency is very dangerous for the world, because it means violence and aggression, but also for the country, because it means seriously harming civil liberties."
Building on the theme of hypocrisy, Chomsky revisits the Bush regime's policy of preventive war. He points out that Henry Kissinger approved of the doctrine so long as it did not become "a universal principle available to every nation." With the illegal Iraqi invasion, the United States has established its perverse right to invade a sovereign nation on a whim, but reserves that right as a privilege granted only unto them.
Coupling with the preventive war policy is the Bush regime's decree that "those who harbor terrorists are as guilty as the terrorists themselves." Examining this striking statement with his penetrating analysis, Chomsky quickly discards nations that are "harboring heads of state" because "if we include them, the discussion reduces to absurdity in no time." Focusing on "groups or individuals officially regarded as terrorists", Chomsky cites several examples living freely today within the United States. Orlando Bosch, who was involved in destroying a Cuban airliner and killing 73 people, and whom the Justice Department wanted to deport, was the recipient of a presidential pardon at the behest of Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Chomsky also points to Emmanuel Constant as a terrorist finding safe harbor in the United States. Despite his murder of several thousand Haitians, the United States will not extradite him.
Stretching back a bit in history, Chomsky briefly discusses the Cold War. Embedded in this discourse are more valuable nuggets of information. He reveals (based on previously sealed documents in Russian archives) that the Russians knew that the goal of the United States during the Cold War was "to spend them (the Russians) into economic destruction by compelling them to enter an arms race they couldn't survive--remember, their economy was much smaller than ours." As the military industrial complex was gearing up to become a money-making machine for corporate America and its complicit politicians, the United States chose to take the world to the brink of nuclear war rather than attempting to negotiate a treaty with its reluctant opponent in the arms race. How typical of the Empire.
He holds a special place in his heart for our 40th president
"When enemies commit crimes, they're crimes. In fact, we can exaggerate and lie about them with complete impunity. When we commit crimes, they didn't happen. And you see that very strikingly in the cult of Reagan worship, which was created through a massive propaganda campaign. Reagan's regime was one of murder, brutality, and violence, which devastated a number of countries and probably left two hundred thousand people dead in Latin America, with hundreds of thousands of orphans and widows. But this can't be mentioned here. It didn't happen."
Professor Chomsky elaborates on the deeply criminal nature of the Reagan administration. One example he provides is John Negroponte, who is currently the Director of National Intelligence for the United States, and who acted as Reagan's "point man" as ambassador to Honduras. According to Chomsky, Negoponte's tasks included supervising "the camps in which the mercenary army was being trained, armed, and organized to carry out the atrocities (in Nicaragua), atrocities for which it was condemned by the World Court." Chomsky also points out Reagan's policy of "constructive engagement" with the government of South Africa, in spite of its Apartheid policies, and the Reagan regime's claim that Nelson Mandela's African National Congress was one of the "more notorious terrorist groups" in the world.
Chomsky arrives at two particularly entertaining conclusions about Reagan:
1. "Again the kindest thing you can say about Reagan is that he probably didn't know what he was saying."
2. "Reagan was an incredible coward."
He also observes that Reagan was not a popular president. He cites Reagan's Gallup poll ratings during his presidency as being "roughly average, below every one of his successors, except for Bush II." Chomsky points out that "by 1992, Reagan had become the most unpopular living former president apart from Richard Nixon." He uses the atrocities committed under Reagan, the ineptitude of the man, and his lackluster poll results as evidence of the power of the US propaganda machine, which has been able to beatify this miscreant in the minds of many Americans.
Continuing his discussion on the power and the mechanisms of "imperial propaganda", Chomsky arrives at another sparkling conclusion:
"It was well understood, long before George Orwell, that memory must be repressed. Not only memory but consciousness of what's happening right in front of you must be repressed, because if the public comes to understand what's being done in its name, it probably won't permit it."
Erudition, activism, and dissent are his hallmarks
The further I got into Imperial Ambitions, the more I realized how far Chomsky's knowledge base extends, and how much of his criticism of the US government extends beyond foreign policy. For example, he comments briefly on the surprisingly large and dangerous segment of the US population which practices fundamentalist Christianity (the Religious Right, if you will):
"There is nothing like it in any other industrial country. And Bush has to keep throwing these people red meat to keep them in line. While they're getting shafted by Bush's economic and social policies, he's got to make them think he's doing something for them. But throwing red meat to that constituency is very dangerous for the world, because it means violence and aggression, but also for the country, because it means seriously harming civil liberties."
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
