We are all... fill in the blank

This is a great article written by the ever amazing Noam Chomsky;


"After the terrorist attack on Charlie Hebdo , which killed 12 people including the editor and four other cartoonists, and the murder of four Jews at a kosher supermarket shortly after, French Prime Minister Manuel Valls declared "a war against terrorism, against jihadism, against radical Islam, against everything that is aimed at breaking fraternity, freedom, solidarity."

Millions of people demonstrated in condemnation of the atrocities, amplified by a chorus of horror under the banner "I am Charlie." There were eloquent pronouncements of outrage, captured well by the head of Israel's Labor Party and the main challenger for the upcoming elections, Isaac Herzog, who declared that "Terrorism is terrorism. There's no two ways about it," and that "All the nations that seek peace and freedom [face] an enormous challenge" from brutal violence.

The crimes also elicited a flood of commentary, inquiring into the roots of these shocking assaults in Islamic culture and exploring ways to counter the murderous wave of Islamic terrorism without sacrificing our values. The New York Times described the assault as a "clash of civilizations," but was corrected by Times columnist Anand Giridharadas, who tweeted that it was "Not & never a war of civilizations or between them. But a war FOR civilization against groups on the other side of that line. #CharlieHebdo."

The scene in Paris was described vividly in the New York Times by veteran Europe correspondent Steven Erlanger: "a day of sirens, helicopters in the air, frantic news bulletins; of police cordons and anxious crowds; of young children led away from schools to safety. It was a day, like the previous two, of blood and horror in and around Paris."

Erlanger also quoted a surviving journalist who said that "Everything crashed. There was no way out. There was smoke everywhere. It was terrible. People were screaming. It was like a nightmare." Another reported a "huge detonation, and everything went completely dark." The scene, Erlanger reported, "was an increasingly familiar one of smashed glass, broken walls, twisted timbers, scorched paint and emotional devastation."

These last quotes, however -- as independent journalist David Peterson reminds us -- are not from January 2015. Rather, they are from a report by Erlanger on April 24 1999, which received far less attention. Erlanger was reporting on the NATO "missile attack on Serbian state television headquarters" that "knocked Radio Television Serbia off the air," killing 16 journalists.
"NATO and American officials defended the attack," Erlanger reported , "as an effort to undermine the regime of President Slobodan Milosevic of Yugoslavia." Pentagon spokesman Kenneth Bacon told a briefing in Washington that "Serb TV is as much a part of Milosevic's murder machine as his military is," hence a legitimate target of attack.

There were no demonstrations or cries of outrage, no chants of "We are RTV," no inquiries into the roots of the attack in Christian culture and history. On the contrary, the attack on the press was lauded. The highly regarded U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, then envoy to Yugoslavia, described the successful attack on RTV as "an enormously important and, I think, positive development," a sentiment echoed by others.

There are many other events that call for no inquiry into western culture and history -- for example, the worst single terrorist atrocity in Europe in recent years, in July 2011, when Anders Breivik, a Christian ultra-Zionist extremist and Islamophobe, slaughtered 77 people, mostly teenagers.

Also ignored in the "war against terrorism" is the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern times -- Barack Obama's global assassination campaign targeting people suspected of perhaps intending to harm us some day, and any unfortunates who happen to be nearby. Other unfortunates are also not lacking, such as the 50 civilians reportedly killed in a U.S.-led bombing raid in Syria in December, which was barely reported.

One person was indeed punished in connection with the NATO attack on RTV -- Dragoljub Milanović, the general manager of the station, who was sentenced by the European Court of Human Rights to 10 years in prison for failing to evacuate the building, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. TheInternational Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia considered the NATO attack, concluding that it was not a crime, and although civilian casualties were "unfortunately high, they do not appear to be clearly disproportionate."

The comparison between these cases helps us understand the condemnation of the New York Times by civil rights lawyer Floyd Abrams, famous for his forceful defense of freedom of expression. "There are times for self-restraint,"Abrams wrote , "but in the immediate wake of the most threatening assault on journalism in living memory, [the Times editors] would have served the cause of free expression best by engaging in it" by publishing the Charlie Hebdo cartoons ridiculing Mohammed that elicited the assault.

Abrams is right in describing the Charlie Hebdo attack as "the most threatening assault on journalism in living memory." The reason has to do with the concept "living memory," a category carefully constructed to include Theircrimes against us while scrupulously excluding Our crimes against them -- the latter not crimes but noble defense of the highest values, sometimes inadvertently flawed.

This is not the place to inquire into just what was being "defended" when RTV was attacked, but such an inquiry is quite informative (see my A New Generation Draws the Line).

There are many other illustrations of the interesting category "living memory." One is provided by the Marine assault against Fallujah in November 2004, one of the worst crimes of the U.S.-UK invasion of Iraq.

The assault opened with occupation of Fallujah General Hospital , a major war crime quite apart from how it was carried out. The crime was reported prominently on the front page of the New York Times, accompanied with a photograph depicting how "Patients and hospital employees were rushed out of rooms by armed soldiers and ordered to sit or lie on the floor while troops tied their hands behind their backs." The occupation of the hospital was considered meritorious and justified: it "shut down what officers said was a propaganda weapon for the militants: Fallujah General Hospital, with its stream of reports of civilian casualties."

Evidently, this is no assault on free expression, and does not qualify for entry into "living memory."

There are other questions. One would naturally ask how France upholds freedom of expression and the sacred principles of "fraternity, freedom, solidarity." For example, is it through the Gayssot Law, repeatedly implemented, which effectively grants the state the right to determine Historical Truth and punish deviation from its edicts? By expelling miserable descendants of Holocaust survivors (Roma) to bitter persecution in Eastern Europe? By the deplorable treatment of North African immigrants in the banlieues of Paris where the Charlie Hebdo terrorists became jihadis? When the courageous journal Charlie Hebdo fired the cartoonist Siné on grounds that a comment of his was deemed to have anti-Semitic connotations? Many more questions quickly arise.

Anyone with eyes open will quickly notice other rather striking omissions. Thus, prominent among those who face an "enormous challenge" from brutal violence are Palestinians, once again during Israel's vicious assault on Gaza in the summer of 2014, in which many journalists were murdered, sometimes in well-marked press cars, along with thousands of others, while the Israeli-run outdoor prison was again reduced to rubble on pretexts that collapse instantly on examination.

Also ignored was the assassination of three more journalists in Latin America in December, bringing the number for the year to 31. There have been more than a dozen journalists killed in Honduras alone since the military coup of 2009 that was effectively recognized by the U.S. (but few others), probably according post-coup Honduras the per capita championship for murder of journalists. But again, not an assault on freedom of press within living memory.

It is not difficult to elaborate. These few examples illustrate a very general principle that is observed with impressive dedication and consistency: The more we can blame some crimes on enemies, the greater the outrage; the greater our responsibility for crimes -- and hence the more we can do to end them -- the less the concern, tending to oblivion or even denial.

Contrary to the eloquent pronouncements, it is not the case that "Terrorism is terrorism. There's no two ways about it." There definitely are two ways about it: theirs versus ours. And not just terrorism."

http://chomsky.info/articles/20150110.htm


Chomsky makes a typically insightful point. Unfortunately, it is unlikely people will make the realization he has here.

 

Excellent.. a keeper.. Thanks.

 

Erroneous hogwash. It is good to see someone using the term "Islamic Terrorist" though. While the jihad is directly tied to Islam NATO and the US are not tied to Christianity. Well, only when atheists want to blame Christianity for something they pull this nonsense. When atheists want to claim positive things about the US then it isn't a Christian nation. Such hypocrisy. No wonder atheism is such an unpopular worldview.

 

How so?

What does that even mean? You actually think Islam is a single solid unit of religious belief? Hilarious.

This is really off topic, but can you give an example of these supposed atheists in action?

Erroneous hogwash. Of course, you must feel Islam is about 95% as good Christianity if you think popularity = quality. You must also be one of those funny Obama fans, because he was the most popular in the last election.

 

How so? I explained that. Why so obtuse?

Continuing to make false comparisons does not prove anything so no need to double down on the hogwash.

It isn't off topic because the at the very core of this type thinking is the hatred and bigotry toward Christianity. If you want examples just read any of the books written by the New Atheists.

 

Fallujah was a crime? Really?

 

You didnt explain anything, you just said "erroneous hogwash" then talked about atheist and other nonsense.

What false comparison?

Hahaha oh poor old Christians, its all about them isnt it? hilarious.

 

I did explain. If you cannot comprehend that is your problem.

 

Christians that hold such views need to get a grip on reality.

 

What views?

 

While i can not stand Hannity nor his interview style you can hear what you expect for living under Sharia law..

And yes they want it EVERYWHERE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tx4byELOkk

You have the right to be gay just dont get "caught" or you are dead.

Dont cheat or be accused of cheating or you are dead.

Oh you can be a Christian, Jew, Atheists, etc etc and live in peace as long as you agree and live with Sharia law. If you have an issue with that you are dead.

This is what they want. This is what ISIS is doing in 2 countries. This is what Boko Haram is doing in African. This is what the Taliban is doing in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

 

Liberals have a pathological need to defend the Islamic terrorist savages. Perhaps they need to feel superior by defending what they see as "ignorant and primitive" people from what they see as "oppressive and controlling" people. This is all fantasy. What is happening is the natural progression of humanity. It is evolution in progress. There has always been a struggle between those who want to live a civil and peaceful existence and savages who want to just dominate the world. The more intelligent and advanced of the species want to live a peaceful existence and to achieve this they end up having to obliterate the savage groups. Evolution is sometimes ugly.

These Islamic extremists will continue to murder innocent people and cause havoc where they can until the rest of the world realizes a peaceful existence will not be possible until they no longer exist. It is just history repeating and evolution in progress. Sorry liberals but you won't be able to stop it.

 

We actually dropped leaflets telling the city to evacuate before we came rolling in. We couldn't have been any more humanitarian about it.

 

To be fair evacuate to where?

 

First, "Anders Breivik, a Christian ultra-Zionist extremist and Islamophobe" was actually an Atheist. So, we might call that incident Atheist Terrorism to be fair. Secondly....I think some people protect Islam by spreading the bull(*)(*)(*)(*).

 

Anywhere. There were refugee camps set up all over the country. Hell there were mini cities set up outside Camp Leatherneck when I was there with thousands and thousands of people making a killing off American troops.

Anywhere but where they were. If someone told me you were coming to bomb Indianapolis, I'd go live in the woods.

 

You dont seem to understand sharia law, like any law, is varied and cannot be enforced extensively, like any religious law. For example, no religious laws or laws derived from religious principles of any kind specifically should be the basis of criminal law.

Sounds like Christians who watch fox. Who is this "they" you refer to?

See above.

See above.
None of your "they want" comments refutes anything I have said, nor have you shown how absolutely no sharia can be incorporated into or under the purview of secular state law.

 

Which liberals?

LOL You keep at it buddy.

 

Its not my words... You didnt even watch the video did you...

 

Well yeah you could have not invaded the country, or withdrawn. That would have been more humanitarian.

 

Again who is this "they"?

Yes, I did. The stupid fox news interview with Anjem Choudary, yes? Are you saying he's your only evidence? A single, non-mainstream, radical UK Imam? LOL you crack me up.

 

But its all peace=) In order to get your peace, you have to do exactly what they say or die...in other words, "bend over" as the Liberals say!!!

 

First you pretend it was a "Christian" saying it now you down play who actually did.. Laughable stuff here.

 

Saying what? Where did I say Christians advocate sharia? LOL

 

Stooges,Schleps,schlemiel,schnooks with the occasional schlub
and schmendrik tossed into the batter for flavoring in this New democrat
Party experiment in political forensics run amuck and daffy as a cartoon
duck after the holidays.
Using an almost scientific mind control technique of GASLIGHTING the public
at large in order to make them dependent on Big Brother for the twisted version
of what passes as news along with acclimation.That being to get the public used to
daffy news being spread as if a new coat of paint.Only the paint is layed on thick
as what used to pass for firehouse red and just as obvious.
Good has now been displaced by evil as acceptable.The Deconstruction is
wholesale and rampant and seemingly unstoppable.Given time Communism will
be as acceptable as Corn Flakes for breakfast.Big Brother will be the standard-bearer
for Iron Boss control of We the People.With an Iron Boss whistle,which numbs out all
else,the average American mind will exist soley for the State.There will be no need for
any thinking process.The State has all the solutions and all the controls at hand.
In fact,robots will have more say so than the average citizen.
The words Freedom & Liberty long ago having been outlawed as are Mother
and Father and Marriage.No need for such terms.
Or practices,once considered as institution,such as the Family.
The State is Now ALL.Both your Family and your Parent.
We are ALL soon to be No More.Along with No Mores comes a lot of
morons who who feel this moronic state is a great experiment.As if it wasn't
tried before to utter devastation.The Human Condition being replaced by a
mindset of Iron and Steel and cold thought and heartlessness where Holiday
no longer is used and feelings are numbed to the point of being robotic.
Even schools are seldom used.For what purpose.Education only complicates the
State and causes friction or inquiry.Like a pet that has been potty trained,only
bare essentials in education are needed for a State that now views Humans as if
Cattle.