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| Fifth Column |
| US against Arab democracy: Chomsky |
| 2011-05-13 |
| [Iran Press TV] Renowned American academic Noam Chomsky ...intellectual and political theorist of a socialist persuasion. He is noted for being so far out in left field he can't see the shortstop on every issue he pushes... says the US and its allies will spare no effort to prevent democracy in the Arab World, as they fear losing their clout in the region. Chomsky made the remark at the 25th anniversary celebration of the national media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting in New York, Democracy Now reported on Wednesday. At the meeting, Chomsky sketched out his views about the brewing popular revolutions sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa, expressing doubt that the US would allow authentic democracies to flourish in the region. "Across the [Middle East], an overwhelming majority of the population regards the United States as the main threat to their interests," Chomsky says. "The US and its allies will do anything they can to prevent authentic democracy in the Arab world." "The reason is very simple... Plainly, the US and its allies are not going to want governments which are responsive to the will of the people. If that happens, not only will the US not control the region, but it will be thrown out," the Jewish-American political analyst added. Elsewhere in his remarks, Chomsky turned the spotlight on the ongoing anti-government protests in Bahrain, where people have been demonstrating since February 14 to put an end to the rule of the Al Khalifa dynasty and urge sweeping reforms. He maintained that if ongoing movements correspond to the Unite States' strategic and economic goals, officials in Washington would be quick to throw their weight behind any uprising, otherwise they would show scant enthusiasm to advocate any change that might run counter to their interests. "If actions correspond to our strategic and economic objectives, that's OK. We can have elegant rhetoric, but what matters is facts," Chomsky noted. "Actually, the most interesting case in many respects is Bahrain. Bahrain is quite important for two reasons. One reason, which has been reported, is that it's the home port of the US Fifth Fleet, major military force in the region," he said. "Another more fundamental reason is that Bahrain is about 70 percent Shia, and it's right across the causeway from eastern Soddy Arabia, which also is majority Shia and happens to be where most of Saudi oil is," the 82-year-old senior academic noted. He went on to say that as for oil-rich countries such as Libya, the US and its allies are more inclined to "get a more reliable dictator" and banish an "oil-rich dictator who's not reliable, who's a loose cannon. That's Libya." Chomsky argued that the United States fears that it will lose clout and eventually be forced out of the region if governments springing from the sovereign will of the people emerge in the region. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #4 Noam, you ignorant sow - I have two words for you: manufactured consent. Whereas you declared yourself opposed to the very idea of broad-based democratic representation in your first foray into the public eye, I declare you incompetent to say word one about any possible movement towards "Arab Democracy". You are a fascist pig, and a particularly selfish and treacherous specimen of the breed at that. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2011-05-13 15:45 |
| #3 Did you know that Noam means amiable in Hebrew? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2011-05-13 14:57 |
| #2 What was all that stuff about Maliki and the Iraqi Constitution and the purple fingers in Afghanistan? And is Jimmuh Cahtuh shuttling back and forth to DIS-courage democracy? ( or did he just pocket 12 million dollars of Saudi money to hand out sani wipes to the Palestinians and make them seem...well...decent? And what was Arafat doing in that hut all through the rainy season with Sabu the Elephant boy?) Now I admit that expecting Moslems to go against Islam's traditions of illiteracy and economic buggery and a fine long line of dictatorships and Caliphs is like expectiong Hamas and the Palestinians not to stand and wave bloody hands upraised to Allah and to wail Allahu Akbar while they dance and pass out candy as the Jewish wheelchairs burn in the evening air. But perhaps Democracy has less chance in a Moslem country of ever being a reality than Khalid Sheikh Mohammed being rehabilitated by ( I love a happy ending, dont you?) running a day care center for the kindergarten children of NPR Liberals in a suburb in Carmel, California. But you never know. |
| Posted by: de Medici3489 2011-05-13 03:17 |
| #1 Arab democracy = oxymoron. Or, in the case of Chumpsky, just moron. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2011-05-13 00:15 |