9-11
2 journalers for this copy...
After the fall of the World Trade Centers, I started wondering why so many people hated us. Did the values they despised have more to do with squandering their lives making our free-toys-with-purchase than religious freedom? Was the WTC a symbolic target? Is our support of Israel a good thing? Is our military presence in Saudi Arabia like Pakistan setting up camp in Texas?
I look back at these questions now and they seem incredibly naive, because they're such a tip of the iceberg. Did you know that there's a World Court for settling disputes between nations, and that international law forbids retaliation? Did you know that the U.S. was convicted by the World Court in 1980 for Nicaragua? But Reagan dismissed it and escalated the attack. Nicaragua went to the Security Council, which called on all states to observe international law. The U.S. alone vetoed it. This process didn't work for them, because they were up against us, but there are avenues within the law to bring international terrorists to justice without harming civilians. In 1987, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution against international terrorism 153-2(U.S. and Israel). The resolution stated that people have a right to self-determination, and struggling against foreign occupation can't be called terrorist. Our 2001 Department of State Legal Criteria for Foreign Terrorist says 1)they must be foreign 2)they must engage in terrorist activity and 3)they must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or national security (defense, foreign relations or economic interests). So if it's our money vs. their lives, they're the terrorists.
Noam Chomsky is an M.I.T. professor, and his work is indefatiguably researched. I'm now reading his Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, and they refer to 500 downloadable pages of footnotes available online. I'm trying to find out how I've gone 45 years as an avid and eclectic reader, and never heard of any of this before. The answer is obvious, now that I see it. Who's going to be the advertising sponsor to uncovering the thin layer of dirt above their own layer of dirt? Politics is economics, two hands of the same body with media as its mouth. You have to go to it: the information won't just come to you in the "free" press - not because of censorship, but more importantly, because of sponsorship. This is an $8.95 little book, so if you can't find mine (one of 6 new copies I bought to spread around) go buy it.
I look back at these questions now and they seem incredibly naive, because they're such a tip of the iceberg. Did you know that there's a World Court for settling disputes between nations, and that international law forbids retaliation? Did you know that the U.S. was convicted by the World Court in 1980 for Nicaragua? But Reagan dismissed it and escalated the attack. Nicaragua went to the Security Council, which called on all states to observe international law. The U.S. alone vetoed it. This process didn't work for them, because they were up against us, but there are avenues within the law to bring international terrorists to justice without harming civilians. In 1987, the U.N. General Assembly passed a resolution against international terrorism 153-2(U.S. and Israel). The resolution stated that people have a right to self-determination, and struggling against foreign occupation can't be called terrorist. Our 2001 Department of State Legal Criteria for Foreign Terrorist says 1)they must be foreign 2)they must engage in terrorist activity and 3)they must threaten the security of U.S. nationals or national security (defense, foreign relations or economic interests). So if it's our money vs. their lives, they're the terrorists.
Noam Chomsky is an M.I.T. professor, and his work is indefatiguably researched. I'm now reading his Understanding Power: The Indispensable Chomsky, and they refer to 500 downloadable pages of footnotes available online. I'm trying to find out how I've gone 45 years as an avid and eclectic reader, and never heard of any of this before. The answer is obvious, now that I see it. Who's going to be the advertising sponsor to uncovering the thin layer of dirt above their own layer of dirt? Politics is economics, two hands of the same body with media as its mouth. You have to go to it: the information won't just come to you in the "free" press - not because of censorship, but more importantly, because of sponsorship. This is an $8.95 little book, so if you can't find mine (one of 6 new copies I bought to spread around) go buy it.
So far, I've released 4 ear-tagged members of this species (copies of the book) to friends, with instructions to read and release. It's a short book, so it should be coming to a neighborhood near you soon.
Thank you, tereza. I have read it and do promise to pass it along or set it free, after my husband reads it. I'm mainly a fiction reader, and tend to steer clear of political non-fictions. However, this was an interesting, thought-provoking series of interview transcripts and easily read. I'd like to get it back out into the wild by Sept. 11th. I'll leave release notes here when I do.
I've returned this book to Tereza at her request.
