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Culture of Terrorism
This classic text provides a scathing critiques of U.S. political culture through billion analysis of the Iran-Contra scandal. Chomsky irrefutably shows how the unites States has opposed human rights and democratization to advance it economic interests.
338 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1988
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About the author
Noam Chomsky
977 books17.4k followersAvram Noam Chomsky is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is a laureate professor of linguistics at the University of Arizona and an institute professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Among the most cited living authors, Chomsky has written more than 150 books on topics such as linguistics, war, and politics. In addition to his work in linguistics, since the 1960s Chomsky has been an influential voice on the American left as a consistent critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, and corporate influence on political institutions and the media.
Born to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants (his father was William Chomsky) in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania. During his postgraduate work in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Chomsky developed the theory of transformational grammar for which he earned his doctorate in 1955. That year he began teaching at MIT, and in 1957 emerged as a significant figure in linguistics with his landmark work Syntactic Structures, which played a major role in remodeling the study of language. From 1958 to 1959 Chomsky was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. He created or co-created the universal grammar theory, the generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program. Chomsky also played a pivotal role in the decline of linguistic behaviorism, and was particularly critical of the work of B.F. Skinner.
An outspoken opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which he saw as an act of American imperialism, in 1967 Chomsky rose to national attention for his anti-war essay "The Responsibility of Intellectuals". Becoming associated with the New Left, he was arrested multiple times for his activism and placed on President Richard M. Nixon's list of political opponents. While expanding his work in linguistics over subsequent decades, he also became involved in the linguistics wars. In collaboration with Edward S. Herman, Chomsky later articulated the propaganda model of media criticism in Manufacturing Consent, and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. His defense of unconditional freedom of speech, including that of Holocaust denial, generated significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the 1980s. Chomsky's commentary on the Cambodian genocide and the Bosnian genocide also generated controversy. Since retiring from active teaching at MIT, he has continued his vocal political activism, including opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and supporting the Occupy movement. An anti-Zionist, Chomsky considers Israel's treatment of Palestinians to be worse than South African–style apartheid, and criticizes U.S. support for Israel.
Chomsky is widely recognized as having helped to spark the cognitive revolution in the human sciences, contributing to the development of a new cognitivistic framework for the study of language and the mind. Chomsky remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, U.S. involvement and Israel's role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and mass media. Chomsky and his ideas are highly influential in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements. Since 2017, he has been Agnese Helms Haury Chair in the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona.
Born to Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants (his father was William Chomsky) in Philadelphia, Chomsky developed an early interest in anarchism from alternative bookstores in New York City. He studied at the University of Pennsylvania. During his postgraduate work in the Harvard Society of Fellows, Chomsky developed the theory of transformational grammar for which he earned his doctorate in 1955. That year he began teaching at MIT, and in 1957 emerged as a significant figure in linguistics with his landmark work Syntactic Structures, which played a major role in remodeling the study of language. From 1958 to 1959 Chomsky was a National Science Foundation fellow at the Institute for Advanced Study. He created or co-created the universal grammar theory, the generative grammar theory, the Chomsky hierarchy, and the minimalist program. Chomsky also played a pivotal role in the decline of linguistic behaviorism, and was particularly critical of the work of B.F. Skinner.
An outspoken opponent of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, which he saw as an act of American imperialism, in 1967 Chomsky rose to national attention for his anti-war essay "The Responsibility of Intellectuals". Becoming associated with the New Left, he was arrested multiple times for his activism and placed on President Richard M. Nixon's list of political opponents. While expanding his work in linguistics over subsequent decades, he also became involved in the linguistics wars. In collaboration with Edward S. Herman, Chomsky later articulated the propaganda model of media criticism in Manufacturing Consent, and worked to expose the Indonesian occupation of East Timor. His defense of unconditional freedom of speech, including that of Holocaust denial, generated significant controversy in the Faurisson affair of the 1980s. Chomsky's commentary on the Cambodian genocide and the Bosnian genocide also generated controversy. Since retiring from active teaching at MIT, he has continued his vocal political activism, including opposing the 2003 invasion of Iraq and supporting the Occupy movement. An anti-Zionist, Chomsky considers Israel's treatment of Palestinians to be worse than South African–style apartheid, and criticizes U.S. support for Israel.
Chomsky is widely recognized as having helped to spark the cognitive revolution in the human sciences, contributing to the development of a new cognitivistic framework for the study of language and the mind. Chomsky remains a leading critic of U.S. foreign policy, contemporary capitalism, U.S. involvement and Israel's role in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and mass media. Chomsky and his ideas are highly influential in the anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist movements. Since 2017, he has been Agnese Helms Haury Chair in the Agnese Nelms Haury Program in Environment and Social Justice at the University of Arizona.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
June 12, 2018
Chomsky at his most visceral and condemning of the American political-military machine.
December 30, 2022
First articulated by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1941, the United States holds dear four fundamental freedoms:
1. Freedom of Speech
2. Freedom of Worship
3. Freedom from Want
4. Freedom from Fear
According to Chomsky, there is a fifth freedom that has come to define U.S. policies abroad:
5. Freedom to Rob, Exploit & Dominate
Bullet Points (pun intended)
* In American newspeak, there are two vastly dissimilar definitions of “democracy.” There is the dictionary version - a government compliant and beneficial to its citizens - and then there is the Orwellian (a.k.a. American) version - a government compliant and beneficial to American investors.
* US apologists have repeatedly said that American foreign policy is always governed by the rule of law, but since the United States determines and defines the laws, that statement is a “terrorist fallacy.”
* American public opinion that runs contrary to government policy is of no account until it threatens the authority of those in power.
* The purpose of US aid is very often to permit people who are fighting on our side to use more violence.
* In a terrorist state, any information that is inconvenient is deemed irrelevant.
* Atrocities committed by our side are not atrocities at all, but rather are “errors committed in a noble cause.”
* Chomsky refers to Israel as America’s “Mercenary State.”
* America has installed and maintained some of the most violent terrorist states of the modern era.
* The unstated goal has always been to maintain populations in a state of apathy and obedience.
Published in 1988, The Culture of Terrorism focuses primarily on the Reagan administration with occasional throwbacks to Carter, Nixon, Johnson and Kennedy. The examples may be dated but the observations are disturbingly credible and the political forecasts are damn near prophetic. 4 Stars.
1. Freedom of Speech
2. Freedom of Worship
3. Freedom from Want
4. Freedom from Fear
According to Chomsky, there is a fifth freedom that has come to define U.S. policies abroad:
5. Freedom to Rob, Exploit & Dominate
Bullet Points (pun intended)
* In American newspeak, there are two vastly dissimilar definitions of “democracy.” There is the dictionary version - a government compliant and beneficial to its citizens - and then there is the Orwellian (a.k.a. American) version - a government compliant and beneficial to American investors.
* US apologists have repeatedly said that American foreign policy is always governed by the rule of law, but since the United States determines and defines the laws, that statement is a “terrorist fallacy.”
* American public opinion that runs contrary to government policy is of no account until it threatens the authority of those in power.
* The purpose of US aid is very often to permit people who are fighting on our side to use more violence.
* In a terrorist state, any information that is inconvenient is deemed irrelevant.
* Atrocities committed by our side are not atrocities at all, but rather are “errors committed in a noble cause.”
* Chomsky refers to Israel as America’s “Mercenary State.”
* America has installed and maintained some of the most violent terrorist states of the modern era.
* The unstated goal has always been to maintain populations in a state of apathy and obedience.
Published in 1988, The Culture of Terrorism focuses primarily on the Reagan administration with occasional throwbacks to Carter, Nixon, Johnson and Kennedy. The examples may be dated but the observations are disturbingly credible and the political forecasts are damn near prophetic. 4 Stars.
February 3, 2016
This is Noam Chomsky's 1998 analysis of the Reagan administration's failed Central American policy that resulted in the deaths of tens of thousands as well as the destabilization of economies and governments in the name of the protection of the United States from a nonexistent enemy, global communism. Chomsky's reasoned analysis also shines the light on the complicity of the United States media in failing to report the truth behind America's illegal and immoral interference with democracy and human rights progressive, popular reforms of the dictatorships who serve our wealthy institutions. It is fascinating to learn how Reagan utilized the threat of terrorism to convince the American public to look the other way while he intervened illegally in the operations of other countries in the name of defense of our way of life that was supposedly threatened by the popular elections in Nicaragua. The same rhetoric now drives the Republican race for the presidency with racially blind hatred of Islam and Hispanics in the name of public and economic safety. See for example Ted Cruz' popular threat to carpet bomb ISIS in spite of the Geneva Convention and Marco Rubio's call for massive defense spending to save us from a foe without an airplane or a ship. The tried and true gambit of Reagan’s prevarications is rising again seventeen years after Chomsky's excellent and prescient analysis.
July 1, 2016
في الكتاب يشكك تشومسكي بوجود الديمقراطية في الولايات المتحدة، ويدعي أن الحكومة الأميركية بقادتها ومسؤوليها لديهم قاعدة تتمثل في "أن عليهم خداع الشعب لمصلحة الشعب نفسه".
يؤرخ الكاتب قضية "فضيحة الكونترا" التي عصفت بالإدارة الأميركية أبان حكم ريغان. ينقل قوله "إن الإدارة التي جاءت إلى السلطة معلنة أن محاربة الإرهاب هي حجر الرحى في سياسة أميركا الخارجية، تبين أنها كانت تبيع أسلحة بصورة سرية لأعتى حكومة إرهابية في العالم إيران".
يؤكد تشومسكي أن التحقيق في الفضيحة تجنب العامل الإسرائيلي؛ وأن الكونجرس فشل في التحقيق حول دوره الأساس في الفضيحة.
يستنتج تشومسكي من هذه الأحداث وبكثير من الوضوح الصورة التي رسمتها النخب الأميركية عن نفسها؛ فالولايات المتحدة هي دولة عنيفة وهارجة عن القانون وقادتها إرهابيون.
يذكر تشومسكي أن إدارة كارتر حاولت دعم الجيش في إيران لتنفيذ إنقلاب على الخميني، وبعد فشله، ذهبت لدعم حكومته عبر إسرائيل وضم إيران إلى الحظيرة الأميركية.
يضم تشومسكي في كتابه أكثر من ثلاثين عملية دليل على شحن أسلحة وصواريخ ومعدات عسكرية من إسرائيل إلى إيران، ويذكر أن إسرائيل كانت ترسل في بعض الأحيان الشحنات بطريقة مباشرة دون مرورها بموانئ أجنبية.
يشكك تشومسكي أن هدف الشحنات هو لتسهيل حل مشكلة الرهائن، بل أن الوقائع تثبت له عكس ذلك.
يؤرخ الكاتب قضية "فضيحة الكونترا" التي عصفت بالإدارة الأميركية أبان حكم ريغان. ينقل قوله "إن الإدارة التي جاءت إلى السلطة معلنة أن محاربة الإرهاب هي حجر الرحى في سياسة أميركا الخارجية، تبين أنها كانت تبيع أسلحة بصورة سرية لأعتى حكومة إرهابية في العالم إيران".
يؤكد تشومسكي أن التحقيق في الفضيحة تجنب العامل الإسرائيلي؛ وأن الكونجرس فشل في التحقيق حول دوره الأساس في الفضيحة.
يستنتج تشومسكي من هذه الأحداث وبكثير من الوضوح الصورة التي رسمتها النخب الأميركية عن نفسها؛ فالولايات المتحدة هي دولة عنيفة وهارجة عن القانون وقادتها إرهابيون.
يذكر تشومسكي أن إدارة كارتر حاولت دعم الجيش في إيران لتنفيذ إنقلاب على الخميني، وبعد فشله، ذهبت لدعم حكومته عبر إسرائيل وضم إيران إلى الحظيرة الأميركية.
يضم تشومسكي في كتابه أكثر من ثلاثين عملية دليل على شحن أسلحة وصواريخ ومعدات عسكرية من إسرائيل إلى إيران، ويذكر أن إسرائيل كانت ترسل في بعض الأحيان الشحنات بطريقة مباشرة دون مرورها بموانئ أجنبية.
يشكك تشومسكي أن هدف الشحنات هو لتسهيل حل مشكلة الرهائن، بل أن الوقائع تثبت له عكس ذلك.
December 5, 2017
We have been into democracy promotion for decades in other countries, but, as Noam muses in the Preface, why not try promoting it here, in the United States? This book half is half about the creation of U.S. led terror in Central America during the Reagan Years. The attempted message of the Reagan years was that violence pays…The first four freedoms taught by FDR have since been historically openly ignored whenever Noam’s additional “Fifth Freedom” is deemed “incompatible” with them. Noam’s “Fifth Freedom” is the freedom to exploit and dominate, and it is well documented in the historical record. One cost of such an unimpeded Fifth Freedom is the death toll under Reagan only of more than 150,000 in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua alone. In the longer term, Japan, South Korea, and Canada became noticeably wealthier thanks to their huge roles in producing for the US defense industries starting with the Vietnam War. Isn’t it lovely we offer our allies a share of the spoils in “bringing democracy” by force to whoever, whenever? Sadly, for elites, the Vietnam War also politicized American Society leading liberals at the Trilateral Commission to bemoan a “crisis of democracy”. Noam’s deepest lesson in every book he writes, is to look at what liberals do to collude with the worst actions of the Republicans.
Noam tells us that it is normal for governments to consider their own population as the enemy. In the questioning of Oliver North, U.S. scenarios existed for martial law, and in even turning the US over to a FEMA man who, in 1970, advocated in a memorandum “internment of all American Negroes in assemble centers or relocation camps.” Under Reagan we trained for the first time, terrorist armies (think El Salvador) - armies not for combat but for spreading terror through the population. If you can’t saturate non-American minds through PR, you saturate their countrysides with bombs, and their bodies with bullets. The Sandinista government had to be attacked by the U.S. for daring to helping the poor majority of Nicaragua. Noam then takes on PR miracle of unchecked faith in America’s doctrine of good intentions and gives us pearls like: “the law is what the U.S. government says it is, a natural principle in a terrorist culture.” This explains the media silence on U.S. led terror – and the rampant killing of trade unionists, priests, nuns, and human rights workers. In Guatemala censorship was achieved by murder among the local press. Noam says, “If international terrorists are to be shunned, then Washington must close down.” Because the US is politically weak in Latin America, it has had a long historical need to use violence to stop popular organizations, as well as to evade diplomatic settlement. Every provision of the Paris Agreements regarding Vietnam, Noam shows, were violated immediately. “How would we react today to a Third World revolution that adopted the practices followed by the Founding Fathers and their descendants, endorsing literal human slavery, organizing genocidal destruction of the native population, disenfranchising males without property, women (for a mere 130 years), and people of wrong color (for a mere 180 years), and so on…” U.S. planners know their objectives require the threat of violence, so it’s not surprising that even liberal Carter actively supported both the Shah and Somoza. “Functioning democracy can be tolerated at home no more than it can in Central America or elsewhere.” Induced fear allows continual public acceptance of unlawful engagements against “little Satans, states or groups sufficiently weak and defenseless so that we can attack them …without fear.” “Security is only a marginal concern of security” “The instinctive desire of ‘all free peoples to guard themselves from oppression’ (Rousseau), may be repressed among a subordinated population, effectively removed from the political system.” As regards problems with U.S. media, all 85 opinion pieces in the NYT and Wash Post about the Sandinista’s were “bitterly hostile” – total conformity against empathizing with the poor of Nicaragua. Thanks to the U.S. policy, and compliant U.S. media, 9,000 Nicaraguans died and one billion dollars of unnecessary damage to the country ensued. And don’t forget the U.S. Penwalt corporation, which “poisoned Lake Managua with tons of mercury while operating in Nicaragua to avoid U.S. environmental laws.” Occasionally our press states the actual truth like this pearl from the WSJ: “officials are concerned that Nicaragua can cause trouble by training radical union and peasant leaders as well as guerrillas.” That would threaten the U.S. which knows it’s non-empathetic proxy governments can never win the hearts and minds of rural peasants anywhere, unless the cards are strongly stacked against the opposition. So, the state department intentionally turned Nicaragua into what one of them termed “the Albania of Latin America” – poor and isolated. To show how indoctrinated by lies Americans are, Noam says look anywhere for evidence that the U.S. invaded South Vietnam. It of course happened in 1962 and was obvious by 1965, but notice the total subordination of world opinion to U.S. power, including no condemnation by the UN for the attack, or even recognizing it. The Nazis taught us that all that was needed was “a mood of passive compliance”, while you did what you did. The U.S. problem was how to bring the population back to “apathy and obedience” after the Vietnam War. Noam writes that our sympathy and concern for the victims of violence here and worldwide is “the authentic ‘counterculture’ to the dominant culture of terrorism.” Brilliant book. Five Stars, as is with everything Noam writes. I’m still smiling with Noam humorously saying how, according to power, the Central American poor must be “reeling” from our “benevolence”.
Noam tells us that it is normal for governments to consider their own population as the enemy. In the questioning of Oliver North, U.S. scenarios existed for martial law, and in even turning the US over to a FEMA man who, in 1970, advocated in a memorandum “internment of all American Negroes in assemble centers or relocation camps.” Under Reagan we trained for the first time, terrorist armies (think El Salvador) - armies not for combat but for spreading terror through the population. If you can’t saturate non-American minds through PR, you saturate their countrysides with bombs, and their bodies with bullets. The Sandinista government had to be attacked by the U.S. for daring to helping the poor majority of Nicaragua. Noam then takes on PR miracle of unchecked faith in America’s doctrine of good intentions and gives us pearls like: “the law is what the U.S. government says it is, a natural principle in a terrorist culture.” This explains the media silence on U.S. led terror – and the rampant killing of trade unionists, priests, nuns, and human rights workers. In Guatemala censorship was achieved by murder among the local press. Noam says, “If international terrorists are to be shunned, then Washington must close down.” Because the US is politically weak in Latin America, it has had a long historical need to use violence to stop popular organizations, as well as to evade diplomatic settlement. Every provision of the Paris Agreements regarding Vietnam, Noam shows, were violated immediately. “How would we react today to a Third World revolution that adopted the practices followed by the Founding Fathers and their descendants, endorsing literal human slavery, organizing genocidal destruction of the native population, disenfranchising males without property, women (for a mere 130 years), and people of wrong color (for a mere 180 years), and so on…” U.S. planners know their objectives require the threat of violence, so it’s not surprising that even liberal Carter actively supported both the Shah and Somoza. “Functioning democracy can be tolerated at home no more than it can in Central America or elsewhere.” Induced fear allows continual public acceptance of unlawful engagements against “little Satans, states or groups sufficiently weak and defenseless so that we can attack them …without fear.” “Security is only a marginal concern of security” “The instinctive desire of ‘all free peoples to guard themselves from oppression’ (Rousseau), may be repressed among a subordinated population, effectively removed from the political system.” As regards problems with U.S. media, all 85 opinion pieces in the NYT and Wash Post about the Sandinista’s were “bitterly hostile” – total conformity against empathizing with the poor of Nicaragua. Thanks to the U.S. policy, and compliant U.S. media, 9,000 Nicaraguans died and one billion dollars of unnecessary damage to the country ensued. And don’t forget the U.S. Penwalt corporation, which “poisoned Lake Managua with tons of mercury while operating in Nicaragua to avoid U.S. environmental laws.” Occasionally our press states the actual truth like this pearl from the WSJ: “officials are concerned that Nicaragua can cause trouble by training radical union and peasant leaders as well as guerrillas.” That would threaten the U.S. which knows it’s non-empathetic proxy governments can never win the hearts and minds of rural peasants anywhere, unless the cards are strongly stacked against the opposition. So, the state department intentionally turned Nicaragua into what one of them termed “the Albania of Latin America” – poor and isolated. To show how indoctrinated by lies Americans are, Noam says look anywhere for evidence that the U.S. invaded South Vietnam. It of course happened in 1962 and was obvious by 1965, but notice the total subordination of world opinion to U.S. power, including no condemnation by the UN for the attack, or even recognizing it. The Nazis taught us that all that was needed was “a mood of passive compliance”, while you did what you did. The U.S. problem was how to bring the population back to “apathy and obedience” after the Vietnam War. Noam writes that our sympathy and concern for the victims of violence here and worldwide is “the authentic ‘counterculture’ to the dominant culture of terrorism.” Brilliant book. Five Stars, as is with everything Noam writes. I’m still smiling with Noam humorously saying how, according to power, the Central American poor must be “reeling” from our “benevolence”.
July 5, 2021
An incredibly detailed analysis of US terrorism in Central America, particularly Nicaragua, in the 1980s. Obviously a serious book, but I laughed several times just from the overt, dripping sarcasm.
February 17, 2022
friendly reminder that anything you do to undermine the american war machine is justified and morally right xo
May 24, 2021
this is all very good but it makes me sad... how did Noam go from systematically detailing how the American machine was producing a “culture of terrorism” to telling people that they gotta go out during a pandemic to vote for joe biden of all people. what happened to you Noam. your ass used to be beautiful
October 12, 2016
It’s hard to pinpoint Noam Chomsky’s specialty because there are so many. The obvious answer would be linguistics. After all, the man is a professor on the subject at MIT. But what about politics and world issues? The reason Chomsky seems to have so much to say on everything is because he’s really only talking about one thing: US aggression. Whether it’s the Israel-Palestine problem, Vietnam, or Latin America, the US affects the fate of all nations.
The subject of Nicaragua has been interesting to me ever since I heard the Clash’s album Sandinista. I know that sounds cheap, but growing up in a land far far away and close to Venezuela in the 90’s, the subject of Latin American liberalism has become inescapable. And that’s what the Culture of Terrorism focuses on; Nicaragua and neighboring Central American states.
One can see why he chose the name, as Chomsky right away focuses on the terror inflicted by the US on foreign states supporting whatever power is interested in stripping its citizens of their freedom. Culture of Terrorism is a thorough “study” of the US-backed Contra war on Nicaragua, and while all the treaties of the region are a bit difficult to follow, for the most part it’s easy to grasp how Chomsky lays out the constant harassment and usurping of Nicaragua by the US in opposition to the rest of the world. With such isolation, is it any wonder Nicaragua cracked? Really, this book is an ABC guide to the kind of terror the US has brought to Central America, and serves as the “other” side of the story you don’t hear in American journalism.
Chomsky offers some hope at the end when he mentions of there will always be people who will stand up for their freedom and integrity. Sure, but if the US is truly opposed to international terrorism then maybe is must shut itself down. And that's unnerving.
The subject of Nicaragua has been interesting to me ever since I heard the Clash’s album Sandinista. I know that sounds cheap, but growing up in a land far far away and close to Venezuela in the 90’s, the subject of Latin American liberalism has become inescapable. And that’s what the Culture of Terrorism focuses on; Nicaragua and neighboring Central American states.
One can see why he chose the name, as Chomsky right away focuses on the terror inflicted by the US on foreign states supporting whatever power is interested in stripping its citizens of their freedom. Culture of Terrorism is a thorough “study” of the US-backed Contra war on Nicaragua, and while all the treaties of the region are a bit difficult to follow, for the most part it’s easy to grasp how Chomsky lays out the constant harassment and usurping of Nicaragua by the US in opposition to the rest of the world. With such isolation, is it any wonder Nicaragua cracked? Really, this book is an ABC guide to the kind of terror the US has brought to Central America, and serves as the “other” side of the story you don’t hear in American journalism.
Chomsky offers some hope at the end when he mentions of there will always be people who will stand up for their freedom and integrity. Sure, but if the US is truly opposed to international terrorism then maybe is must shut itself down. And that's unnerving.
January 11, 2021
America is good and is always right, don’t ask why.
(Hopefully the sarcasm is obvious)
I need to read up more on Sandinista National Liberation Front but it’s surprising that Noam Chomsky is the only writer I’ve read that talks about the SNLF. Although I can’t say I’ve learn more about the SNLF than that they were around in Nicaragua and were a party based on Marxist-Leninist principals. But besides that Chomsky talks so much about Regans perspectives on the political party which is obviously trash. This book felt like Manufacturing Consent except focused on Central America instead of Indochina.
(Hopefully the sarcasm is obvious)
I need to read up more on Sandinista National Liberation Front but it’s surprising that Noam Chomsky is the only writer I’ve read that talks about the SNLF. Although I can’t say I’ve learn more about the SNLF than that they were around in Nicaragua and were a party based on Marxist-Leninist principals. But besides that Chomsky talks so much about Regans perspectives on the political party which is obviously trash. This book felt like Manufacturing Consent except focused on Central America instead of Indochina.
October 9, 2017
كعادة نعوم تشومسكي في نقده لسياسة بلاده الخارجية والداخلية وفضحه لممارساتها الارهابية في دول أمريكا الوسطى هذا الكتاب يتكلم بصفة مباشرة عند إدارة ريغان وتعاملها مع دول أمريكا الوسطى.
لكي يعلم المواطن العربي بأنه ليس هو الوحيد المحارب في العالم وأن البشرية تسعى للقضاء عليه فمعانات دول أمريكا الوسطى والجنوبية لا تقل فظاعة .
لكي يعلم المواطن العربي بأنه ليس هو الوحيد المحارب في العالم وأن البشرية تسعى للقضاء عليه فمعانات دول أمريكا الوسطى والجنوبية لا تقل فظاعة .
November 4, 2008
Maybe a little dated but keeps the focus on the original definition of terrorism: violence by the state used to intimidate and control their populace.
January 29, 2013
If you want to understand the "culture" of terrorism start here.
December 31, 2017
I've yet to be dissatisfied with anything I've encountered from Chomsky. The most salient critique I've heard is that he says a lot of the same things over and over, but I personally think that's more a function of the US making the same mistakes and moral errors ad nauseum than his own lack of originality. There are only so many ways to critique the psychotic, hypocritical, greed-based jingoism we engage with and I think he does a better job than most. In this case, his eye is turned to the Reagan administration's policies in Central America, particularly Nicaragua. It's billed as a book about Iran-Contra, but there's not a huge emphasis on the Iranian part of the equation. One of Chomsky's greatest strengths is his ability to find such comprehensive and condemning amounts of data—quotes from high-ranking officials, proof of broken agreements, death tolls, witness testimony, etc.—and weaving them all together seamlessly. His sarcastic but brokenhearted voice glues it all together, proving his concern is far less grounded in any sort of political partisanship than it is in empathy and compassion for the disenfranchised, subjugated, and mistreated all over the world.
March 10, 2021
Prescient, though not fatalist in the approach, it is imperative and urgent, as ever, to dissent. I feel enlightened on the establishment code words, yeah they are not using democracy in the way you think they are. I definitely already knew they meant something different on that one, but with this context, I also shudder. Chomsky has a way of elaborating on the meanings of political mouthpieces and financial interests that evaporates the "good will" vibes they try to emit for the public. He eviscerates the liberal left for their role in hedging the discourse and creating cover for war crimes. They still aren't against creating "democracy" with bombs but they do it with a sad smile, it also bums them out kinda, see Obama's book for that.
June 25, 2020
So the world's biggest terrorist organisation is...drum roll...the USA, according to Noam.
I do like Chomsky & undoubtedly empire building has allowed some bad people to do bad things. Fundamentally however, most people are good, this is as true of politicians and the military as anyone else across all countries.
The root cause of these issues was one of misinformation, and a lack of humanity, ethics, transparency and oversight.
Essentially if good people sit idly by then the demons amongst us will run amok.
I do like Chomsky & undoubtedly empire building has allowed some bad people to do bad things. Fundamentally however, most people are good, this is as true of politicians and the military as anyone else across all countries.
The root cause of these issues was one of misinformation, and a lack of humanity, ethics, transparency and oversight.
Essentially if good people sit idly by then the demons amongst us will run amok.
February 2, 2024
Whilst this book primarily focusses on the USA’s state run terrorist activities in South America during the Reagan administration, where fledgling democracies attempting to raise living standards for it’s people, were undermined in favour of either military junta’s or dictatorships that fell in line with the USA’s political and financial interests.
Moving forward to the current day and sadly with the USA’s unconditional support of the Israel’s states genocidal acts in Palestine, little appears changed.
Moving forward to the current day and sadly with the USA’s unconditional support of the Israel’s states genocidal acts in Palestine, little appears changed.
September 5, 2021
Chomsky discusses how the U.S. has terrorized the world through its double standard and especially through the use of the "threat" of communism. He explains how we force countries into the arms of the Soviets so we can then blame them and topple them with an excuse. He also discusses how clandestine means secret from the masses, not secret on the international level. A facade, through propaganda, is needed. He particularly focuses on Nicaragua and S./C. America, but also brings Iran into it.
September 13, 2021
An in-depth analysis of of the Iran-Contra affair, Chomsky is shockingly thorough in arguing that the United States in complicit not anathema to global terror. This book asserts that American culture aided and abetted the Reagan administration in facilitating the killing of roughly 150,000 Nicaraguans. The power and seriousness Chomsky brings to this topic is admirable, adding to my conviction that America is no exception to the trend of hegemonic actors displaying brutal characteristics.
March 10, 2022
Published in the late 80s, Chomsky tackles the troubling history of the Iran-Contra scandal, its origins, and how it played out in the Reagan administration including the spillover from Nicaragua into El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala.
The conclusion is that while the United States preaches democracy and freedom, doesn't walk the walk when it comes to Latin America and acts more of a terrorist state in its actions.
A great analysis!
The conclusion is that while the United States preaches democracy and freedom, doesn't walk the walk when it comes to Latin America and acts more of a terrorist state in its actions.
A great analysis!
January 21, 2023
يتناول الكاتب نعوم تشومسكي سياسة ريغان في أمريكا الوسطى وخاصة دولة نيكاراجوا ودعم الولايات المتحدة لمنظمة كونترا التي قامت بإنتهاكات فظيعة ضد المواطنينفي اعوام ١٩٨٦. الكتاب بشكل عام عن سياسات الولايات المتحدة في دول مثل نيكاراجوا وهندوراس والسلفادور مع ذكر بسيط عن تايلند واسقاط حكومة سوكارنو في اندونيسيا كما يعرج الكاتب الى فضيحة إيران كونترا ودور اسرائيل في بيع أسلحة الى نظام كان يعتبره الأمريكان نظاما راعيا للإرهاب.
July 8, 2023
If Ronald Reagan was alive today, he should be roasted alive for the atrocities he committed against the innocent peasants of Nicaragua he killed through the contra rebels. He must have been insane to think that Nicaragua would invade the USA. His crimes amount to genocide and consider "crimes against humanity". So, this is how supposed to be great leaders behave behind closed doors.
November 15, 2017
U.S. shenanigans in Nicaragua and with Iran Contra.
July 15, 2022
If you want to know how the world works !! Then Chomsky is your guide.
November 26, 2022
This book should be required reading in all high school US History classes.
January 7, 2025
Still an author to read
September 19, 2010
Estados Unidos es un estado débil diplomáticamente, pero fuerte militarmente. Así comienza Chomsky este acucioso análisis al escándalo Irán-Contras, y todo para sostener una arriesgada (para él) hipótesis: Estados Unidos de América es un estado terrorista.
Es decir, el gobierno de los Estados Unidos siempre preferirá la vía de las armas a la de la discusión. Cualquier país que EUA considere como parte de su área de acción, lo tratará bajo las peores leyes de vasallaje, y si alguno da señales de independencia, EUA asirá cualquier pretexto, por ridículo e insostenible que sea, para ejercer una acción militar sobre dicho país.
Sin embargo, el gobierno de los Estados Unidos tiene un poder al cual le atañe mucho la opinión pública: el congreso. Si la opinión pública estadounidense se vuelve de manera determinada contra las políticas exteriores de su gobierno, el congreso recula y reclama cuentas y culpables. Pero si esta expresión de los gobernados no alcanza una masa crítica, el congreso seguirá siendo tan observador a las políticas dictadas por la Casa Blanca como el que más.
Y los medios de comunicación juegan un gran papel aquí. Su responsabilidad es convencer al pueblo que las políticas y acciones gubernamentales en el exterior son correctas, moralmente incuestionables y necesarias. Llevar la democracia y liberar al pueblo oprimido, son la razones más socorridas.
Mientras el ciudadano estadounidense promedio esté conforme y confortable, mientras no se ofenda su susceptibilidad, su gobierno tendrá carta blanca para hacer y deshacer a su gusto.
Defender los intereses estadounidenses en el extranjero siempre es la razón real y de fondo. Y estos intereses son más de índole imperialista que democrática. Es por ello que para dichos intereses, las dictaduras locales les son más afines.
La gran debacle la tuvo con Vietnam, por que al pueblo ya no le gustó, no sólo la cantidad de bajas de compatriotas, sino los escándalos de las masacres y abominaciones que se cometían ahí por el ejercito mismo.
Sin embargo, la administración reagan fue más cautelosa que su antecesora, y en lugar de enfrentamientos bélicos directos como en el pasado, montó una red de terrorismo internacional para seguir domeñando a todos esos estados que se oponían a su imperialismo. Así, utilizando mercenarios, a la CIA, y su ingente capacidad económica, el gobierno los Estados Unidos de América se encargaron de implantar sus regímenes en Centro América con gran éxito, con la gran excepción de Nicaragua. El Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional fue un hueso muy duro de roer para la administración reagan, tanto, que le costó el escándalo Irán-Contras.
Sí, la conclusión es obvia, el gobierno de los Estados Unidos es, ha sido, y parece que seguirá siendo, un régimen de vocación terrorista. Con la venia de sus muchos países satélite, a la manera de la ex-Unión Soviética. Tal vez mucho peor, por que sus estructuras de poder siguen intactas.
Un pueblo gordo y conformista, un periodismo servil y alineado, un congreso que sólo sirve al pueblo en función de su inconformidad generalizada, son los ingredientes para que el poderoso imperio estadounidense siga actuando con impunidad por todo el mundo.
Y por todo lo anterior, Wikileaks representa una gran amenaza al gobierno más poderoso del mundo.
Es decir, el gobierno de los Estados Unidos siempre preferirá la vía de las armas a la de la discusión. Cualquier país que EUA considere como parte de su área de acción, lo tratará bajo las peores leyes de vasallaje, y si alguno da señales de independencia, EUA asirá cualquier pretexto, por ridículo e insostenible que sea, para ejercer una acción militar sobre dicho país.
Sin embargo, el gobierno de los Estados Unidos tiene un poder al cual le atañe mucho la opinión pública: el congreso. Si la opinión pública estadounidense se vuelve de manera determinada contra las políticas exteriores de su gobierno, el congreso recula y reclama cuentas y culpables. Pero si esta expresión de los gobernados no alcanza una masa crítica, el congreso seguirá siendo tan observador a las políticas dictadas por la Casa Blanca como el que más.
Y los medios de comunicación juegan un gran papel aquí. Su responsabilidad es convencer al pueblo que las políticas y acciones gubernamentales en el exterior son correctas, moralmente incuestionables y necesarias. Llevar la democracia y liberar al pueblo oprimido, son la razones más socorridas.
Mientras el ciudadano estadounidense promedio esté conforme y confortable, mientras no se ofenda su susceptibilidad, su gobierno tendrá carta blanca para hacer y deshacer a su gusto.
Defender los intereses estadounidenses en el extranjero siempre es la razón real y de fondo. Y estos intereses son más de índole imperialista que democrática. Es por ello que para dichos intereses, las dictaduras locales les son más afines.
La gran debacle la tuvo con Vietnam, por que al pueblo ya no le gustó, no sólo la cantidad de bajas de compatriotas, sino los escándalos de las masacres y abominaciones que se cometían ahí por el ejercito mismo.
Sin embargo, la administración reagan fue más cautelosa que su antecesora, y en lugar de enfrentamientos bélicos directos como en el pasado, montó una red de terrorismo internacional para seguir domeñando a todos esos estados que se oponían a su imperialismo. Así, utilizando mercenarios, a la CIA, y su ingente capacidad económica, el gobierno los Estados Unidos de América se encargaron de implantar sus regímenes en Centro América con gran éxito, con la gran excepción de Nicaragua. El Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional fue un hueso muy duro de roer para la administración reagan, tanto, que le costó el escándalo Irán-Contras.
Sí, la conclusión es obvia, el gobierno de los Estados Unidos es, ha sido, y parece que seguirá siendo, un régimen de vocación terrorista. Con la venia de sus muchos países satélite, a la manera de la ex-Unión Soviética. Tal vez mucho peor, por que sus estructuras de poder siguen intactas.
Un pueblo gordo y conformista, un periodismo servil y alineado, un congreso que sólo sirve al pueblo en función de su inconformidad generalizada, son los ingredientes para que el poderoso imperio estadounidense siga actuando con impunidad por todo el mundo.
Y por todo lo anterior, Wikileaks representa una gran amenaza al gobierno más poderoso del mundo.
September 28, 2021
The terrorism that has two sides and perpetuates itself in direct opposition. As long as we’re all afraid and fighting one another, it’s easy to exploit us.
April 7, 2014
(Türkçe basımından okudum.) ABD dış politikasında perde arkasında işlerin nasıl yürüdüğü, ama medyada nelerin yansıdığını algılamak açısından dikkate değer bir çalışma. 80 lerdeki mevcut duruma, özellikle Irangate örneğine konsantre olarak , ama genel bir resim çizme çabası içinde anlatıyor...
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September 9, 2007terrorism hasany difination.Terrorist is some one who kill or fire humanity by gun, money and traffic human
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