Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Issue No. 33 September 29 - October 6, 2001 Quezon City, Philippines |
Interviewing Chomsky on the US War BY
RADIO B92, BELGRADE Back to Bulatlat.com Alternative Reader Index Why
do you think these attacks happened? To
answer the question we must first identify the perpetrators of the crimes. It is
generally assumed, plausibly, that their origin is the Middle East region, and
that the attacks probably trace back to the Osama Bin Laden network, a
widespread and complex organization, doubtless inspired by Bin Laden but not
necessarily acting under his control. Let us assume that this is true. Then to
answer your question a sensible person would try to ascertain Bin Laden's views,
and the sentiments of the large reservoir of supporters he has throughout the
region. About all of this, we have a great deal of information. Bin Laden has
been interviewed extensively over the years by highly reliable Middle East
specialists, notably the most eminent correspondent in the region, Robert Fisk
(London Independent), who has intimate knowledge of the entire region and direct
experience over decades. A Saudi Arabian millionaire, Bin Laden became a
militant Islamic leader in the war to drive the Russians out of Afghanistan. He
was one of the many religious fundamentalist extremists recruited, armed, and
financed by the CIA and their allies in Pakistani intelligence to cause maximal
harm to the Russians --- quite possibly delaying their withdrawal, many analysts
suspect --- though whether he personally happened to have direct contact with
the CIA is unclear, and not particularly important. Not surprisingly, the CIA
preferred the most fanatic and cruel fighters they could mobilize. The end
result was to "destroy a moderate regime and create a fanatical one, from
groups recklessly financed by the Americans" (London Times correspondent
Simon Jenkins, also a specialist on the region). These "Afghanis" as
they are called (many, like Bin Laden, not from Afghanistan) carried out terror
operations across the border in Russia, but they terminated these after Russia
withdrew. Their war was not against Russia, which they despise, but against the
Russian occupation and Russia's crimes against Muslims. The
"Afghanis" did not terminate their activities, however. They joined
Bosnian Muslim forces in the Balkan Wars; the US did not object, just as it
tolerated Iranian support for them, for complex reasons that we need not pursue
here, apart from noting that concern for the grim fate of the Bosnians was not
prominent among them. The "Afghanis" are also fighting the Russians in
Chechnya, and, quite possibly, are involved in carrying out terrorist attacks in
Moscow and elsewhere in Russian territory. Bin Laden and his
"Afghanis" turned against the US in 1990 when they established
permanent bases in Saudi Arabia -- from his point of view, a counterpart to the
Russian occupation of Afghanistan, but far more significant because of Saudi
Arabia's special status as the guardian of the holiest shrines. Bin
Laden is also bitterly opposed to the corrupt and repressive regimes of the
region, which he regards as "un-Islamic," including the Saudi Arabian
regime, the most extreme Islamic fundamentalist regime in the world, apart from
the Taliban, and a close US ally since its origins. Bin Laden despises the US
for its support of these regimes. Like others in the region, he is also outraged
by long-standing US support for Israel's brutal military occupation, now in its
35th year: Washington's decisive diplomatic, military, and economic intervention
in support of the killings, the harsh and destructive siege over many years, the
daily humiliation to which Palestinians are subjected, the expanding settlements
designed to break the occupied territories into Bantustan-like cantons and take
control of the resources, the gross violation of the Geneva Conventions, and
other actions that are recognized as crimes throughout most of the world, apart
from the US, which has prime responsibility for them. And like others, he
contrasts Washington's dedicated support for these crimes with the decade-long
US-British assault against the civilian population of Iraq, which has devastated
the society and caused hundreds of thousands of deaths while strengthening
Saddam Hussein -- who was a favored friend and ally of the US and Britain right
through his worst atrocities, including the gassing of the Kurds, as people of
the region also remember well, even if Westerners prefer to forget the facts.
These sentiments are very widely shared. The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 14)
published a survey of opinions of wealthy and privileged Muslims in the Gulf
region (bankers, professionals, businessmen with close links to the US). They
expressed much the same views: resentment of the US policies of supporting
Israeli crimes and blocking the international consensus on a diplomatic
settlement for many years while devastating Iraqi civilian society, supporting
harsh and repressive anti-democratic regimes throughout the region, and imposing
barriers against economic development by "propping up oppressive
regimes." Among the great majority of people suffering deep poverty and
oppression, similar sentiments are far more bitter, and are the source of the
fury and despair that has led to suicide bombings, as commonly understood by
those who are interested in the facts. The
US, and much of the West, prefers a more comforting story. To quote the lead
analysis in the _New York Times_ (Sept. 16), the perpetrators acted out of
"hatred for the values cherished in the West as freedom, tolerance,
prosperity, religious pluralism and universal suffrage." US actions are
irrelevant, and therefore need not even be mentioned (Serge Schmemann). This is
a convenient picture, and the general stance is not unfamiliar in intellectual
history; in fact, it is close to the norm. It happens to be completely at
variance with everything we know, but has all the merits of self-adulation and
uncritical support for power. It
is also widely recognized that Bin Laden and others like him are praying for
"a great assault on Muslim states," which will cause "fanatics to
flock to his cause" (Jenkins, and many others.). That too is familiar. The
escalating cycle of violence is typically welcomed by the harshest and most
brutal elements on both sides, a fact evident enough from the recent history of
the Balkans, to cite only one of many cases. What
consequences will they have on US inner policy and to the American self
reception? US
policy has already been officially announced. The world is being offered a
"stark choice": join us, or "face the certain prospect of death
and destruction." Congress has authorized the use of force against any
individuals or countries the President determines to be involved in the attacks,
a doctrine that every supporter regards as ultra-criminal. That is easily
demonstrated. Simply ask how the same people would have reacted if Nicaragua had
adopted this doctrine after the US had rejected the orders of the World Court to
terminate its "unlawful use of force" against Nicaragua and had vetoed
a Security Council resolution calling on all states to observe international
law. And that terrorist attack was far more severe and destructive even than
this atrocity. As
for how these matters are perceived here, that is far more complex. One should
bear in mind that the media and the intellectual elites generally have their
particular agendas. Furthermore, the answer to this question is, in significant
measure, a matter of decision: as in many other cases, with sufficient
dedication and energy, efforts to stimulate fanaticism, blind hatred, and
submission to authority can be reversed. We all know that very well. Do
you expect US to profoundly change their policy to the rest of the world? The
initial response was to call for intensifying the policies that led to the fury
and resentment that provides the background of support for the terrorist attack,
and to pursue more intensively the agenda of the most hard line elements of the
leadership: increased militarization, domestic regimentation, attack on social
programs. That is all to be expected. Again, terror attacks, and the escalating
cycle of violence they often engender, tend to reinforce the authority and
prestige of the most harsh and repressive elements of a society. But there is
nothing inevitable about submission to this course. After
the first shock, came fear of what the US answer is going to be. Are you afraid,
too? Every
sane person should be afraid of the likely reaction --- the one that has already
been announced, the one that probably answers Bin Laden's prayers. It is highly
likely to escalate the cycle of violence, in the familiar way, but in this case
on a far greater scale. The
US has already demanded that Pakistan terminate the food and other supplies that
are keeping at least some of the starving and suffering people of Afghanistan
alive. If that demand is implemented, unknown numbers of people who have not the
remotest connection to terrorism will die, possibly millions. Let me repeat: the
US has demanded that Pakistan kill possibly millions of people who are
themselves victims of the Taliban. This has nothing to do even with revenge. It
is at a far lower moral level even than that. The significance is heightened by
the fact that this is mentioned in passing, with no comment, and probably will
hardly be noticed. We can learn a great deal about the moral level of the
reigning intellectual culture of the West by observing the reaction to this
demand. I think we can be reasonably confident that if the American population
had the slightest idea of what is being done in their name, they would be
utterly appalled. It would be instructive to seek historical precedents. If
Pakistan does not agree to this and other US demands, it may come under direct
attack as well -- with unknown consequences. If Pakistan does submit to US
demands, it is not impossible that the government will be overthrown by forces
much like the Taliban -- who in this case will have nuclear weapons. That could
have an effect throughout the region, including the oil producing states. At
this point we are considering the possibility of a war that may destroy much of
human society. Even
without pursuing such possibilities, the likelihood is that an attack on Afghans
will have pretty much the effect that most analysts expect: it will enlist great
numbers of others to support of Bin Laden, as he hopes. Even if he is killed, it
will make little difference. His voice will be heard on cassettes that are
distributed throughout the Islamic world, and he is likely to be revered as a
martyr, inspiring others. It is worth bearing in mind that one suicide bombing
-- a truck driven into a US military base -- drove the world's major military
force out of Lebanon 20 years ago. The opportunities for such attacks are
endless. And suicide attacks are very hard to prevent. "The
world will never be the same after 11.09.01." Do you think so? The
horrendous terrorist attacks on Tuesday are something quite new in world
affairs, not in their scale and character, but in the target. For the US, this
is the first time since the War of 1812 that its national territory has been
under attack, even threat. It's colonies have been attacked, but not the
national territory itself. During these years the US virtually exterminated the
indigenous population, conquered half of Mexico, intervened violently in the
surrounding region, conquered Hawaii and the Philippines (killing hundreds of
thousands of Filipinos), and in the past half century particularly, extended its
resort to force throughout much of the world. The number of victims is colossal.
For the first time, the guns have been directed the other way. The same is true,
even more dramatically, of Europe. Europe has suffered murderous destruction,
but from internal wars, meanwhile conquering much of the world with extreme
brutality. It has not been under attack by its victims outside, with rare
exceptions (the IRA in England, for example). It is therefore natural that NATO
should rally to the support of the US; hundreds of years of imperial violence
have an enormous impact on the intellectual and moral culture. It is correct to say that this is a novel event in world history, not because of the scale of the atrocity -- regrettably -- but because of the target. How the West chooses to react is a matter of supreme importance. If the rich and powerful choose to keep to their traditions of hundreds of years and resort to extreme violence, they will contribute to the escalation of a cycle of violence, in a familiar dynamic, with long-term consequences that could be awesome. Of course, that is by no means inevitable. An aroused public within the more free and democratic societies can direct policies towards a much more humane and honorable course. Back to Bulatlat.com Alternative Reader Index We want to know what you think of this article.
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