I've only become familiar with noted linguist Noam Chomsky and his books since this past year, and it feels like I've been missing out on so much.
I just finished reading 9-11, which is a short book that compiles numerous interviews of Chomsky and concludes with his own article about the events of September 11 one year after the fact.
His commentary is simply stunning. This is one of my favorite excerpts about the hypocrisy of the Bush Doctrine:
The government and commentators are stressing loud and clear that they intend to apply the [Bush] doctrine to Iraq. The elementary standard of universality, therefore, would appear to justify Iraqi preemptive terror against the United States. Of course, no one accepts this conclusion. Again, if we are willing to adopt elementary moral principles, obvious questions arise, and must be faced by those who advocate or tolerate the selective version of the doctrine of "preemptive response" that grants the right to those powerful enough to exercise it with little concern for what the world may think.
9-11 is only one of the numerous books and articles that Chomsky has eloquently written about U.S. foreign policy--and how incredibly hypocritical it has been throughout history.
Perhaps the greatest part about Chomsky's arguments is the fact that he uses so many concrete examples. He explains U.S. mishaps in Central America, Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sudan and others and how double standards exist in how the U.S. attacked those situations and how the U.S. has responded to attacks aimed at them.
It's an interesting book, a quick and easy read, and offers great perspective on the atrocities of 9-11--and it's brave enough to criticize the United States on many fronts, something that Chomsky always does with great thought in all of his articles.
Video of the Day: One of my favorite music videos/songs.
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