Chomsky: U.S. Spawned a Fundamentalist Frankenstein in the Mideast

[xchrom]

http://www.alternet.org/books/chomsky-us-spawned-fundamentalist-frankenstein-mideast

For decades now, Noam Chomsky has been widely regarded as the most important intellectual alive (linguist, philosopher, social and political critic) and the leading US dissident since the Vietnam War. Chomsky has published over 100 books and thousands of articles and essays, and is the recipient of dozens of honorary doctorate degrees by some of the world's greatest academic institutions. His latest book, Masters of Mankind: Essays and Lectures, 1969-2013, has just been published by Haymarket Books. On the occasion of the release of his last book, Chomsky gave an exclusive and wide-ranging interview to C.J. Polychroniou for Truthout, parts of which will also appear in The Sunday Eleftherotypia, a major national Greek newspaper.

C.J. Polychroniou: In a nationally televised address on the eve of the 13th anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the United States, Obama announced to the American people and the rest of the world that the United States is going back to war in Iraq, this time against the self-proclaimed Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Is Iraq an unfinished business of the US invasion of 2003, or is the situation there merely the inevitable outcome of the strategic agenda of the Empire of Chaos?

Noam Chomsky: "Inevitable" is a strong word, but the appearance of ISIS and the general spread of radical jihadism is a fairly natural outgrowth of Washington wielding its sledgehammer at the fragile society of Iraq, which was barely hanging together after a decade of US-UK sanctions so onerous that the respected international diplomats who administered them via the UN both resigned in protest, charging that they were "genocidal."

One of the most respected mainstream US Middle East analysts, former CIA operative Graham Fuller, recently wrote that "I think the United States is one of the key creators of [ISIS]. The United States did not plan the formation of ISIS, but its destructive interventions in the Middle East and the war in Iraq were the basic causes of the birth of ISIS."

He is correct, I think. The situation is a disaster for the US, but is a natural result of its invasion. One of the grim consequences of US-UK aggression was to inflame sectarian conflicts that are now tearing Iraq to shreds, and have spread over the whole region, with awful consequences.

[Android3.14]

1. "the most important intellectual alive"

Uh, who regards him as this? That seems a bit hyperbolic. Certainly he is an important intellectual, but the most important?

[RoccoR5955]

3. I regard him as the most important intellectual alive today.

AND the most important.

[daleanime]

5. Uh, me.

[malaise]

7. Always attack the messenger and

ignore the message

[hifiguy]

10. He is certainly in any thinking person's top handful.

[merrily]

2. Yes, bombing and killing people can radicalize the survivors.

Seems kind of obvious, but, apparently, we never cease to be surprised when it happens-and we never seem to foresee it the next time.

[daleanime]

4. Fighting Terrorism with more terror.....

is like fighting a grease fire with more grease.





A a big K&R.

[Are_grits_groceries]

6. We didn't start it.

The Saudis have long been repressive towards fundamentalists. They are and have always a clear and present danger to their regime. This is true in other countries.

Our intervention in the Middle East certainly helped it grow quickly. However, I believe some form of ISIS was inevitable because of the harsh measures used and the alliances with the West. I also think the Saudis and others have hastened their own end by funding ISIS. It is a monster that will turn on them.

[hifiguy]

11. Not so sure about that. The Saudis' lunatic Wahhabism

is about as fundamentalist and batshit as anything can be.

[Are_grits_groceries]

16. Oh I agree.

That group is another reason I have believed an ISIS-like challenge could arise across the Middle East. The rise of a strict Islamic group to challenge the Saudis and others has always been a possibility. I don't think they anticipated the savagery that ISIS uses.

[Scuba]

8. Our bombs are terror seeds.

[countryjake]

9. K&R!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. The Jihadists would like nothing more than to turn this into an anti-Islam crusade.

And, we've been very cooperative in doing just that.

BTW..What ever happened to all the candy and flowers given to us by the grateful Iraqis overjoyed by our "liberating" them?

[riderinthestorm]

13. This is an extremely important article but to be fair he does point to the Saudis too

Saudi Arabia as a missionary state for their extremist fundamentalist theology has a huge role in the development of ISIL.

I don't want to hijack your thread but Chomskys points about the economy were also particularly good.

Thanks for posting this

[woo me with science]

14. K&R

[woo me with science]

15. kick