Spawn of a Political Junky A review of Noam Chomsky’s 9-11 by Brett Martin
If I had to choose between a man on the street, warning the world about Sammy Davis Jr. using his glass eye to send secret messages to the Russians and the army of commie killer bees about to be unleashed on the Midwest; or Walter Kronkite, informing me that this man is obviously insane, I’d take the bee-nut any day. I’ve been taught by Mr. Chomsky himself not to trust the media by default. So it was no surprise when the reviews of his book, 9-11, came out incredibly negative. He was lambasted for his anti-American views and his numerous unfounded accusations. “Typical,” I thought. “Attack the American worldview and watch the media defense mechanisms flare.” I turned up my pretentious, counter culture nose at them and decided to determine the book’s worth my self. This is where the surprise came: I found myself agreeing with the media.
As hinted at by the title, I’ve grown up on ideologies spun by the likes of Hunter S. Thompson and other so-non-conformist-they-don’t-even-conform-to-non-conformity types. So I was happy to pick up a copy of 9-11, a collection of interviews of acclaimed political activist/MIT linguistics professor Noam Chomsky regarding the Sept. 11 tragedy.
But as I read, I began to realize that Mr. Chomsky broke the cardinal sin of which he so often found the media guilty – claims without supporting evidence. He made several references to US terrorist action in Nicaragua and indicated that the US threw its weight around in the World Court when Nicaragua protested, but he didn’t bother proving it to the reader. He would simply use the ubiquitous phrase, “It’s no secret that…” and every once in a while, “obvious… at least to people who have the faintest concern in international law.” (p. 43). The only claims he supported with documentary evidence was the bombing of the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical plant in Sudan and, hey, that is no secret.
As I felt myself falling into disillusionment at the thought of the incredulous Chomsky becoming a discreditable conspiracy theorist, I realized perhaps I should find out myself whether his claims were unfounded, or simply unsupported. I hopped onto my trusty google search engine and found http://www.icj-cij.org, the World Court homepage. There I located a judgment issued against the United States for military and paramilitary against Nicaragua. The United States didn’t bother to file any pleadings or present an oral argument. The Court ordered the US to remunerate Nicaragua the sum of $370,200,000 for damages. Chomsky’s claim was founded. Funny, the US never told the tax payers that.
But so I realized this book held both good and bad tidings. Chomsky did break his much-touted rule of not accepting anything without proof. And, in that sense, he deserved much of the media’s backlash. He fell short of his own standard. But if one considers the format – multiple interviews, often through email – it is almost excusable (almost). More importantly, 9-11 got at least one American loading his skeptical mind with live ammunition. I’ve been weaned from the bottle and am no longer being spoon-fed. The book serves as a great starting point for some political feet-wetting; but Mr. Chomsky leaves the research up to the reader.