Sputnik News & Abby Martin / teleSUR – 2015-12-17 00:09:53
http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20151213/1031686009/noam-chomsky-paris-attacks-daesh-western-policies.html
Noam Chomsky: Paris Attacks Are Result
Of Western Policies in Middle East
Sputnik News
(December 13, 2015) — Daesh, also known as the Islamic State, can’t be defeated by military force; by increasing airstrikes against the terrorist organization, the West increases the likelihood of large-scale terrorist attacks similar to what happened in Paris on November 13, according to celebrated US scholar Noam Chomsky.
If the West wants to reduce the possibility of further terrorist attacks, it needs to address the root causes of the terrorist attacks in Paris.
These root causes are the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the Wahhabization of Sunni Islam, which in turn resulted in the rise of global radical Islamism, Professor Chomsky explained.
Thus, before jumping in and bombing Daesh in the Middle East, the West needs to ask first and foremost why it occured.
“If you want to end it, the first question you ask is: why did it take place? What were the immediate causes and what were the deeper roots? And then you try to address those,” Professor Chomsky stated in an interview with acTVism Munich, an independent and non-profit global online media network.
Otherwise, the simple bombing strategy will do nothing but increase the likelihood of more terrorist attacks.
Furthermore, Chomsky added that it’s probably impossible to defeat Deash by military force; but even if it happened and the West managed to destroy the terrorists, something worse would emerge in its place if the underlying root causes aren’t properly addressed.
A series of suicide bombings and shootings shook Paris on November 13. Several extremists launched coordinated attacks across the city, killing some 130 people and injuring over 360 at several locations, including restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and in the vicinity of the Stade de France stadium.
Daesh, a terrorist organization outlawed in Russia and many other countries, claimed responsibility for the attacks.
Noam Chomsky: 2003 ‘Invasion of Iraq
Is the Worst Crime’ of 21st Century
Abby Martin / teleSUR’s The Empire Files
(October 28, 2015) — “It’s had horrible effects; it spawned sectarian conflicts that are tearing the region apart,” the intellectual added. “The very idea of invading is criminal. Try to find someone who describes it as a crime. Obama is praised because he describes (the Iraq War) as a mistake. But does he describe it as a crime, does anyone?” he asked.
The 44th US president was elected on an anti-war platform; his stance also earned him a Nobel Peace Prize in 2009. Obama promised to limit America’s military engagement in the Middle East.
Nevertheless, US troops returned to Iraq to train and assist local forces in their fight against ISIL and several thousand American servicemen are expected to remain in Afghanistan in the foreseeable futureApart from this, “Obama is running a global terror program of a kind that has never been seen before,” Chomsky added, referring to the drone program.
The Pentagon’s UAVs might be extremely efficient in terms of preventing casualties of US forces but, according to recently leaked documents published by the Intercept, they are quite bad at eliminating correct targets. During a five-month-long campaign in Afghanistan, 90 percent of people killed in drone strikes were unintended targets. This is a 10-percent success rate.
Ordinary Americans are very limited in their ability to influence Washington’s foreign or domestic policies.
“It basically does not matter what the public thinks. About 70 percent of the public with the lowest income are pretty much disenfranchised. Their attitudes have no detectable influence on the policies of their own representatives,” the philosopher observed.
The United States, according to Chomsky, resembles a “plutocracy with democratic forms” where the elections “have almost become a joke.” For instance, “the idea that we have the right to use force and violence at will is accepted pretty much across the spectrum,” meaning that any elected official will likely share this view.
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