[Peace-discuss] Obama is Worse than Bush and Blair: Noam Chomsky

[C. G. Estabrook]

...When Jeremy Paxman asks Noam Chomsky in this interview 
<http://www.medialens.org/alerts/04/040622_Paxman_Chomsky_1.HTM> 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.


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."


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."


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."


...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."


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."


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?"...


"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"...


http://technorati.com/politics/article/obama-is-worse-than-bush-and/

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