9-11
by Noam Chomsky

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Book Reviews of 9-11

Book Review: Devastating stuff;
Summary: 5 Stars

Chomsky asks: Why do they hate us? Well it's a complex question. He dismisses the self-serving bunkum about how they hate us because we are such a wonderful democracy or whatever. Instead he turns to the Wall Street Journal which several days after the massacres surveyed wealthy Arabs with close links to the West. They found that there was alot of resentment even amongst the upper classes at U.S. and Western propping up of feudal dictatorships which stiffle civil society and prevent development and which help send the oil wealth to the region away from their people and to the West.

They also, like the poor in the Arab world, are bitter about U.S. killing of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis while strengthening Saddam Hussein and his apparatus as well as continuing to provide Israel with advanced helicopters to massacre Palestinian civillians. The U.S. true committment to democracy in the Arab world was shown starkly in October when it was revealed that our kindly Secretary of State Mr. Powell had been pressuring the dictatorship in Qatar to "rein in" Al Jazeera, the only independent television station in the Arab world.

He also provides some very good stuff on the Sudan bombing in August 1998. Clinton's bombing of the Al-Shifa medical factory has according to wide estimates from impeccable sources killed tens of thousands of people who had made use of the factory which produced fifty percent of Sudan's medicine ,ninety percent of its most crucial medicines and all of its veternarian supplies. He also cites news reports that the Sudan had arrested two people in connection with the bombing of the African embassies in August 2000 which precipitated the bombing of Al-Shifa and had offered an immense database on Bin Laden and his top goons but because the U.S. state department so violently hated the Sudanese government they refused the offer and Sudan released the suspects after the bombing of Al Shifa.

He has an interesting response to a question from one of the interviewers in this book about the celebrating in Palestine or wherever else after September 11. He notes what the jubilation in the U.S. media after the U.S. backed Suharto seized power in Indonesia in 1965 and proceeded to slaughter at least a half a million "communists" i.e. landless peasants. Or when Nicaraguan voters finally voted out the Sandanistas after the U.S. proxy army had been deliberately destroying their civillian infrastrucure and killing thousands of civillians to the applause of the media. The U.S. of course escalated its terrorist war against Nicaragua, as similarly in El Salvador and Guatemala, in 1986 after Nicaragua obeying international law went to the World Court which ordered the U.S. to stop its slaugter and pay substantial reparations to Nicaraqua. Of course, Nicaragua is ruined probably forever. Its elections were recently subjected to gross interference on the part of the U.S. embassy which was campaiging for the ruling right wing party and against the now pro-capitalist and utterly decadent Sandanistas as having links with terrorist organizations.

Well, of course as he says the U.S. immediately ordered Pakistan to cut off truck shipments and food aid to Pakistan after Sept 11 over the intense objections over international relief agencies. The bombing campaign almost completely ended food assistance in Afghanistan. The U.S. air drops which according to news reports were suggested by PR advisors are very paltry among other problems compared to the seven million people who need assistance. Thousands almost certainly have already died, in addition to the possible thousands of civillian casualties.

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Summary of 9-11

21st Century Books

• Books > Subjects > History > Americas > United States
• Crime & Criminals  > Criminology
• Current Events > September 11
• Terrorism
• Politics
• Social Sciences
• New & Used Textbooks > Humanities > History > United States
• Social Sciences > Criminology
• Political Science > International Relations