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THE HANDSTAND |
MAY 2003 |
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Noam Chomsky's Golden Rule The
principle is that if somebody carries out terror against
us or against our allies, it's terror, but if we carry
out terror or our allies do, maybe much worse terror,
against someone else, it's
not terror, it's counterterror or it's a just war. In his first new book since the controversial bestseller "9/11," Noam Chomsky concentrates his criticism of U.S. policy on a single principle which is easily recognizable as the Golden Rule: that one should apply to oneself the same standards one applies to others. In "Power and Terror: Post-9/11 Talks and Interviews" (Seven Stories Press), Chomsky uses that rule to cut to the heart of the matters in American foreign policy and domestic politics. This brief 150-page book collects transcripts from interviews and public talks given by Chomsky during the Spring of 2002. "There is one simple way for the United States to decrease very significantly the amount of terror in the world," says the 75-year old political activist, writer and MIT linguistics professor, "and that is to just stop supporting and participating in it." Although Chomsky's work in linguistics has had a profound effect on the field, his notoriety arises from his activism. He is among the foremost critics of the world's sole remaining superpower, and arguably embodies the heart and soul of the progressive movement. Chomsky points out that the distinction between terrorism and counterterrorism is often a matter of perspective, though the counterterror tends to be far more terrible. This hypocrisy, this inability to recognize one's own crimes as crimes, Chomsky argues, is not a singularly American trait. "As far as I know," he explains, "it's universal. Anyplace I've looked – and I've looked at a lot of different countries – that's exactly what you find. During the whole history of European imperialism, this is the standard line: We do it to them, it's counterterror or a just war, bringing civilization to the barbarians, or something like that. If we do that in their own countries – because remember, until September 11, the West was largely immune – at a vastly worse level, it's not terror. It's a civilizing mission, or something like that." Chomsky spoke those words several months before the Bush administration defined its invasion of Iraq as a mission of "liberation and democracy." The book's topics extend beyond Iraq into other instances of the powerful United States and its allies inflicting terror on the weak of the world. Chomsky details the little-known U.S.-backed oppression and state terror carried out against Kurds by Turkey during the 1990s. He examines the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and points out the extent to which Israel has become, in effect, an American military outpost in the Middle East. He touches briefly on other conflicts in Africa, Asia and Latin America. In every case he points out that it is doubtful that the U.S. media will offer a complete accounting of the deaths and sufferings of those on the receiving end of U.S. terror, because those wrongs have few or no consequences for the rich and powerful. In the case of Afghanistan, for instance, no one could have blamed the Afghan people for the attacks of September 11, 2001; nevertheless, they paid the price. Chomsky explains that the consensus among Afghan dissidents was against the U.S. attack, but the U.S. media and military planners seemed to ignore their advice. Have the media reported on civilian casualties in Afghanistan? Not much. A year and a half later, has there been significant discussion about the aftermath of the attack and the failure to bring order to that country? No. Those are the issues that impact the real people of Afghanistan, Chomsky argues, but the issues are overlooked and forgotten in the U.S. Chomsky doesn't condemn everything about the United States. On the contrary, he says, "One of the advantages of living here is that the United States has become, over the years, a very free country. Not as a gift from the gods, but as the result of plenty of popular struggle, it's become an unusually free country, uniquely so in some respects." He cites access to declassified, high-level documents as one of the unusual freedoms afforded to Americans – a freedom very few of us ever exercise. Fortunately for the rest of us, Chomsky has made a career sifting through the public record in search of injustices and inequities, acting as our conscience, holding the United States to the high standards we apply to those countries and people who are not our allies. Eric Bosse is a writer and filmmaker in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He edits a literary journal, The God Particle, and co-edits a new political Web site, BushwhackedUSA.com. Francis A. Boyle Law Building 504 E. Pennsylvania Ave. Champaign, IL 61820 USA 217-333-7954(voice) 217-244-1478(fax) fboyle@law.uiuc.edu (personal comments only) -----Original
Message----- INTERNATIONAL LAW OR THE LAW OF THE JUNGLE? As the Middle East and North Korean crises pose mounting dangers to world peace, the global community is increasingly turning to international law as a credible and primary recourse for resolution of international disputes. Two new titles published in the past year by internationally known and respected U.S. expert in international law, Francis A. Boyle, provide much-needed understandings on the two most pressing dilemmas of our time: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the possibility of use of nuclear weapons. Palestine Palestinians and International Law No regional crisis has greater potential to affect world peace than the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. None has proved more intractable, and seemingly impossible to resolve. Yet, at the end of the day, most commentators agree that the only solution to the conflict lies in the creation of a viable Palestinian state under the guidance and norms of international law. This book provides a comprehensive survey of the international legal principles related to the Palestinian struggle for self-determination: starting with the League of Nations awarding the Mandate for Palestine to Britain after the First World War; through the partition of the Palestine Mandate by the United Nations after the Second World War; to the Palestinian Declaration of an Independent State of their own in 1988; to the diplomatic recognition of the Palestinian State by about 130 other states; through the United Nations granting the State of Palestine all the rights of a U.N. Member State but the right to vote, etc. During the past two decades, the author has provided the Leadership of the Palestinian People with advice, counsel, and representation at all stages of this process. The scholarly analyses that he used to back up this critical work can be found in the pages of this book. The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence Francis A. Boyle provides the intellectual tools needed to battle the nuclear adventurism of the U.S. nuclear power elite, demonstrating how both the use and threatened use of nuclear weapons is illegal under international law and accordingly, criminal. It offers a succinct and detailed guide to understanding U.S. policy from first use in Hiroshima/Nagasaki through the SALT I, SALT II, ABM and START efforts at arms control, to Star Wars, National Missile Defense and beyond. Boyle clarifies the relevant international law, from the Hague Conventions through the Nuremberg Principles to the 1996 World Court Advisory Opinion. He also draws attention to U.S. contraventions of its own domestic guidelines for the pursuit of war established in the 1956 U.S. Army Field Manual on The Law of Land Warfare. Includes a Special Introduction titled "George Bush, Jr., September 11th and the Rule of Law." "[An} enormously valuable book. Any supporter of nuclear weapons would find it very difficult to refute its arguments." Frank Jackson Vice-Chair, World Disarmament Campaign UK and Editor, World Disarm! "Boyle's damning post-9/11 legal analysis of U.S. nuclear war policy and the so-called "war on terrorism" is the best single book for nuclear resisters to study if they intend to defend their own direct action under international law." The Nuclear Resister, Sept. 2002. Francis A. Boyle's long, distinguished and multi-faceted career has included: responsibility for drafting the Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act of 1989, the American implementing legislation for the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention; and representing the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina before the International Court of Justice (1993-94). Boyle has also served on the Board of Directors of Amnesty International (1988-1992); and as a Consultant to the American Friends Service Committee. Professor Boyle teaches International Law at the University of Illinois, Campaign, and is author, inter alia, of Defending Civil Resistance Under International Law, The Future of International Law and American Foreign Policy, Foundations of World Order: The Legalist Approach to International Relations 1898-1921, and The Bosnian People Charge Genocide. He holds a Doctor of Law Magna Cum Laude as well as a Ph.D. in Political Science from Harvard University. To Order:Palestine, Palestinians and International Law 0-932863-37-X, $14.95, 205 pp., 2003 The Criminality of Nuclear Deterrence 0-932863-33-7, $14.95, 216 pp., 2002 Contact: SCB Distributors, 15608 South New Century Drive, Gardena, CA 90248 800-729-6423 (T) 310-532-9400 (F) 310-532-7001 info@scbdistributors.com or Baker & Taylor, amazon.com, Ingram Clarity Press, Inc.,Ste. 469, 3277 Roswell Rd., NE Atlanta, GA 30305 Fax:
1-404-231-3899 clarity@islandnet.com Mark Twain Speaks to Us: "I Am
an Anti-Imperialist"
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Syria,
let's consider some rarely mentioned words from the most
revered writer in American history.