ndern man ix aggrexxiye
beeauxe he ix tearl'ul. .’\lmnxt
all prnpaganda ix dexigned In
et'eate lear.
gnyernmentx and nther nllieialx knnw that a trightened penple ix eaxier In gnyern. will l'nrt'eit rightx iI wnuld ntherwixe delend. ix lexx likely It) demand it better lil‘e. tttttl will agree In millinnx and millinnx being xpent Htt HIlL‘lL‘llk‘L'u.‘
'l'lie qunte ixn't that nl‘ xnme enntempnrary radieal. iI'x that line nld uphnlder nl the gnlden age nt Britixlt yaluex. .IB l’riextley. xnme hall a eentury agn. llix wnrdx xeem In ring pattieularly true at the mnment. Reeently. Sir .lnlm Stephenx. l'nrmer l.nndnn .\letrnpn|itan pnliee. warned til. lell ttl ()aeda nperatiyex rnaming the xtreetx nl‘ the IR. llix xnuree. it wnuld xeem. ix military intelligenee.
.\'nw military intelligenee ix In intelligenee what military muxie ix In muxie. ax the reeent reenrd nl' Ihix enuntry ‘x xpnnkx xeemx In prny e. The prime iiiitiixte't"x rexignatinn-wnrthy abuxe nl' Ihix rexnuree ix nnw a matter nl' reenrd. and the quality nl the knnw ledge w'hieh xent u.x intn a war that enntinuex unabated ix nnw alxn a matter nl' extablixhed l‘aet. \I'axt rexnureex were pnured intn a bndy' wltnxe underxtanding til the military dixpnxitinnx til the l‘nrmer Iraqi regime might haye been imprny ed by axking an .-\u.x.xie baekpaeker Iray'elling thrnugh it. 'l‘hexe latter thnugh. aren't juxt dangernuxly bnring: nne nl them left a earel‘ully marked Inurixt map in the lidinburgh llat nl a Muxlim .xtudent l‘t'iend whnxe enueh he wax eraxhing nn. nnly In xee .xaid friend and hix t'latmatex arrexted ax terrnrixtx .xnme w eekx later. ’l‘hexe pnnr. bal'l'led bnt'l'inx were ey'entually releaxed baek In their xtudiex. bttt hnw lueky are they nnt In xtill be in detentinn'.’ 'l’heir exeape .xeemx In haye been purely enntingent nn the laet that the tnap belnnged In a white dude.
In the lirxt 3t) yearx til the man reeent trnublex. lri.xh paramilitariex. mainly the IRA. detnnated l().()()() explnxiye deyieex nn Ihexe i.xland.x. killing. tip until 1%"). l.b(i7 penple. Sn far. the .xenre l'nr a pn.x.xibly' mythieal nrganixatinn ealled al Qaeda apparently in nur mide l'nr .xnme yearx in far greater numberx than the little rag tag three man IRA teamx. i.x nil pnintx nn bnth enuntx. Sn why the xudden ehange in pnliey. the intrnduetinn nl' identity eardx (w'hieh didn’t .xtnp
enmmixxinner nl~ the
the Madrid tragedy) and the taking away nl'
judieial prneexx'.’ l’erhapx Nnam ('hnmxky' hax .xnme anxw‘erx.
(‘hnmxky. whn eallx hintxell ennxery'atiye and a
Zinnixt (thnugh he addx that his brand nl~
'/.inni.xm wax abnlixhed by the l.xraeli .xtate 5(l
yearx' agnl i.x .xurely the leading y'niee nl
intelligent dixxettt tndtty'. :\eknnwledged 21.x the wnrld‘x leading linguixt. he hax. .xinee the Vietnam war. turned hix attentinn In pnlitiex. We are rieher t'nr it. There are many quntex we will remember him t'nr. nntable amnng them the enntentinn that it the legal rulex nt the Nuremberg trialx applied ttniyet‘xally. then eaeh pnxt-w'ar :\meriean president wnttld haye .xtnnd trial t‘nr war erimex. Sueh impaxxinned del'enee
Uli_ill~\’IiL‘L‘ i.x' nne thing. but what I man think nt‘
w'hen (‘hnmxky i.x mentinned ix a mnre nbxeure remark tnade in a paper In a pnxtmndernixt thinkerx. intent upnn nyeiturning the linlightenment Prnieet. bringing in relatiy'ixm and .x‘ubjeetiyix‘m. and replaeing t’aetx with what we. indiy'idually‘. I/inug/u happened. 'Dn l‘aetx matter? 01' ean we .xtring tngether Ihnughtx ax we like. ealling it an "argument". and tnake t'aetx tip
lleadx Ul-
grnu p nt'
ax we pleaxe. taking nne xtnry In be ax gnnd ax annther.’ | . . . I It they are In be almndnned. then we eannnt prneeed until we learn what replaeex the enmmitment In ennxixteney. rexpnnxibility In laet and nther nutdated nntinnx. Shan nt' xnme inxtruetinn nn Ihix matter. we are redueed tn primal xereamxf
l-‘nr me. ('hnmxky xtandx Inr the nne nutxtanding and mueh negleeted quality that erx humankind apart trnm nther xpeeiex: reaxnn. Where are ynu reading thix‘.’ \nu might be in a enml'nrtable. eentrally heated rnnm. nr nn a bIIx nr train. w hi//ing ynu tn xnme dextinatinn impnrtant In ynu. 'l‘hexe adyaneex were brnught tn ynu by human enllabnratinn and nur eapaeity tn etnplny. enlleetnely. ratinnal dixenttt‘xe. Snnte imentinnx liaye indiyidual inyentnrx. but all are tnade ennerete by enllabnt‘atinn and the intelligent Iixe nl the man natural nl' nur human qualitiex. nur xneiability.
('bnmxky ‘x dear—headed ratinnality. ey en when all arnund him are lnxing their headx. ix what made hix interyentinnx nn the ‘)—l l erixix xn \ ital. and xn mueb mnre enduring than thnxe nl' that nther eelebrated littxlt baiter. \liehael \ltint‘e. lake. l‘nr example. Ihix e\traet l'rnm an artiele
V '2
t‘irxt publixhed in the Sw’edixh newxpaper
:l/imzblm/vt: "l'here ix nn dntibt that the ‘)-l l atrneitiex were an ey‘ent nl' hixtnrie impnrtanee. tint — regrettably — beeauxe nl' their .xeale. btit beeauxe til the ehniee nt' innneent \‘ietimx. It had been reengnixed t'nr xnme time that with new teelmnlngy'. the induxtrial pnwerx wnuld ln.xe their yirtual mnnnpnly nt' y'inlenee. retaining nnly an ennrmnux prepnnderanee. .\'n nne enuld haye antieipated the .xpeeilie way in w'hieh the expeetatinnx were t'ullilled. linr the tirxt time in mndern ltixtnt‘y'. littt'npe and itx nllxhnntx were xubjeeted. nn hnme xiiil. In the kind nt' atrneity' that they rnutinely haye earried nut elxew‘here . . . tony yearx haye paxxed .xinee l’rexident Kennedy nrdered that the 'terrnrx nt' the earth' muxt be \‘ixited upnn (‘uba until their leaderxhip ix eliminated. haying yinlated gnnd t'nrm by
,, a .' ‘ ‘i .' xx x I . y
xueeexxtul rexixtanee tn l'S-run imaxinn. 'l‘he Ierrnrx were e\tremely xertnux. enntmumg mtn the I‘Ntlx. 'l'wenty yearx ha\ e paxxed xinee l’rexident Reagan latmehed a terrnnxt war agamxt Niearagua. enndueted w itli barbarie atrneitiex and MM dextruetinn. leaying tenx nt~ thnuxandx dead
. Itlttl leading 10 enndentnatinn \‘l‘ the l'.\' lit‘l' internatinnal Ierrnrixm by the “mid ('nurt and the [IN Seeurity ('ntmeil tilt a l'exttltltltttt tlte [VS yetnedt.’
('hnmxky'x elarity nt' argument appeatx brutal when enntraxted with the mainrity nt' what paxxex t'nr analyxix iii the maxx media. with the endlexx twittering nl~ NV and the llll(‘ retleetmg the ‘beeaIIxe l'm wnrth it' generatinn.
lle xeex the dixxeminatinn nt' hegemnny ax neeurring thrnugh the maxx media. .-\ll nt' tix hay e the eapaeity ttt tll\et\\ er the litelx behind Uttl‘ gnyet'nmentx deeixinnx In gn tn wat'. nr impnxe xwingeing w ell'are eutx. nr reduee nur eiyil libertiex In a pnint enmparable tn l’innehet'x ('hile. In a tree xneiety. Itian nl the inlnrmatinn ynu need ix txtill juxt abnut l nut there.
l‘aeed with the nen-ennxeryatiye eennnmie attd l'nreign pnlieiex reprexented by the twn main partiex in Britain. attd a prexx dnminated by
' ll
xuppnrterx nl' thix idenlngy. it ix thinkerx like (‘linmxky w hn are reminding ux in the 111an ratinnal way that there may be nther nptiniix. and that there may be nther wayx In underxtand what the ['8 and Britain'x t‘nreign pnliey meanx.
.\'nam ('hnmxky ix lueid nn the xubjeet: "l'he Btixh adminixtratinn pereeiyex the new phaxe nl the "war nn terrnt” ax art nppnnunity tn expand iI.x already nyerwhelming military ady'antagex (net the text nl the wnrld. and In mnye nn In nther tnethndx tn enxure glnbal dnminanee . . . lt ix reaxnnable tn xpeeulate that nne primary gnal (it the bnmbing nl'.'\l'ghanixtan [wax] tn warn the wnrld nt what the ['S ean dn il‘ xnmenne xtepx nut nl line.‘ Already. it xeemx. nther gny‘ernmentx have paid the price l'nr dning xn.
Edinburgh University, Tue 22 Mar. - 2 THE LIST 19