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<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">...When Jeremy Paxman asks Noam
Chomsky
in this interview
<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://www.medialens.org/alerts/04/040622_Paxman_Chomsky_1.HTM"><http://www.medialens.org/alerts/04/040622_Paxman_Chomsky_1.HTM></a>
what he thinks about the demonstration of millions
of people on Arab street, he reminds Paxman that Middle East is
not
the only place where this is happening, just the other day 60,000
people demonstrated in Madison WI, he said.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Being asked by the interviewer to
comment on what Arabs really wants, he maintains, “they want to
get
rid of Western-supported dictators.” Chomsky however, has no
delusion about freedom coming to the Arab street, he adds, “it's
been a remarkable achievement so far but the regimes are intact,
there's been name changes but no significant socio-economic
political
changes.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">When Paxman shot back with the
comment
that the demonstrators have been supported by west, Chomsky denies
that observation, saying that the opposite is the truth. He said
that
the west had stuck by their standard game plan, first trying to
rally
behind their puppets, nevertheless, “there comes a point when you
cannot support your favorite dictator any longer...support them as
long as possible, when the judgment is it can't be done
anymore...come out with ringing declaration for your love of
democracy, and how you are on the side of the people and preserve
the
regime.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Chomsky said, there is a reason why
90%
of Egyptians hate America, referring to the US support of Mubarak,
there is however, no animosity between people, he mentioned,
“Kamal
Abbas, a well known labor leader in Egypt sent a message to
Madison,
WI, saying, the workers of Egypt supports the workers in Madison
in
their struggle, in Madison the workers are trying to preserve the
aspects of democracy, they are under serious attack, in Egypt they
are trying to gain their right that have been denied them,
trajectories are crossing, going in opposite direction.” </p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">...Paxman repeatedly raised the issue
whether West shall intervene in Libya, and Chomsky vehemently
objected, maintaining that we are not the only ones in the world,
he
refereed to the BRIC countries and also Turkey's effort to
intervene
in the crisis. Chomsky refereed to the 1958 observation by
National
Security Council, “there is a perception in the Arab world that
the
US supports harsh and brutal dictators and blocks democracy and
development, we do it because we want to control their energy
supply,
I want to say that the perception is more or less accurate.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">Being asked about western leaders
record, Chomsky said that in many ways Obama is worse than Bush
and
Blair. To defend his view, Chomsky cited the case of Afghanistan
where Obama has escalated the war, and in the case of Pakistan he
has
created a catastrophic situation that may be extremely harmful to
rest of the world. He quoted from an article of Anatoly Lieven, an
expert in the affairs of Pakistan, “British and American soldiers
are dying in Afghanistan to make life more difficult for Britain
and
United States, namely because of the impact of the potential break
up
of Pakistan which has both huge number of nuclear weapons and
radical
Islamic developments, both of them supported by West.”</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">In the interview Paxman asked Chomsky
pointedly, "how old are you?" Chomsky answered: 82. On
that, Paxman threw the most audacious question to one the greatest
men of conscience of our time, “why haven't you mellowed?"...</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;">“Because I look at the world and
there is too much things happening which should lead anyone to
become
indignant, outraged, active and simply engaged”...</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><br>
</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0in;"><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://technorati.com/politics/article/obama-is-worse-than-bush-and/">http://technorati.com/politics/article/obama-is-worse-than-bush-and/</a></p>
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