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For instance, the Gulf War is
reported by the CNN coverage of the ‘fireworks’ that leave a
million Iraqis dead with almost negligible casualties suffered
by Uncle Sam. Attention is diverted to this war, while the
genocide in East Timor is carried out callously for control of
oil.
Chomsky goes on
to emphasise that the received truths can never be taken lying
down. Political hypocrisy and any abuse of power is an anathema
to him. His target is the superpowers and their military and
economic interests upheld in the name of a fraudulent commitment
towards the people. This he makes amply clear by scrutinising
the role of America and her allies in Kosovo, her support of her
client regime in Indonesia, the political crisis in Columbia,
the involvement in the Middle East, the Caribbean and Latin
America. American hegemony through paralysing economic sanctions
and open dismissal of any sanctity of human rights is the only
purpose of her statecraft and warmongering.
Thus it is a
war between the have-nots and the rogue states. Implicit in
Chomsky’s extensive analysis of US foreign policy is the
suggestion for a solution: If American support to autocratic
regimes is lifted there could be some solution to political
turmoil. Mutual respect is the cry of the hour; the relationship
between America and the rest of the world must change. In all
the countries where she has intolerably intervened there lies a
deep-seated and severe suspicion of her intentions. A popular
chant in many of these nations is ‘death to America’.
Ritualistic burning of her flag is a common event all over.
Corroborated by facts and
underpinned by extensive research, the book shows that such
states which refuse to regard themselves as bound by
international norms can be designated as the ‘rogue states’.
The post Cold War domination of the Unites States over the world
is the reason for its arrogance towards UN or the Organisation
of American States. The USA reserves for itself the right to
determine how to act. Unlawful use of force in Nicaragua is
lawful as long as it falls within its ‘domestic jurisdiction’;
the World Court can cry itself hoarse. Security Council vetoes
by the USA and her allies Britain and France in the case of
assaults on Cuba are an evidence of the general principle that
‘if an international organisation does not serve the interests
that govern US policy, there is little reason to allow it to
survive’. Saddam Hussein is supported one day through his
worst atrocities and punished when he becomes inconvenient. This
was obvious in the cases of Marcos, Noriega, Mobutu and many
more. As Chomsky points out, ‘crimes are not of great
consequence; disobedience is.’ You can bombard Angola, Laos,
Cambodia, Vietnam, Granada, Nicaragua, Yugoslavia, Kosovo, Iraq,
and Afghanistan in a short period in the name of a New World
Order. How humanitarian can you get!
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THOUGH
it is difficult to erase or destroy the governing ideas of our
culture, the individual can at least rupture or disrupt them
by showing how they have been constructed, and how contrary
opinions are left out or relegated to the margins. Protest,
resistance and dissent, against concentrated power centres are
pertinent in a society, where the practised way has yielded
negligible results. There can be hope for the future if
ordinary citizens work together and begin welding power to
revolutionise the world.
