http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Logo_250X250.jpg http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Background_1024X576.jpg http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Banner_686X60.jpg http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Half-Banner_234X60.jpg http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Logo_250X250 http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Logo-Watermark_250X250.jpg http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Background_1024X576.jpg http://www.bigthink.com/adobe/Half-Banner-ALT_234X60.jpg Bigthink http://www.bigthink.com/feed/rss/comment/idea/9128 Sat, 11 Oct 2008 22:03:43 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128 this is for chebyshev153<br /><br />are you kidding... the US illegally murdered over one hundred thousand iraqis... mostly civilians...with no valid reason.....<br />... if the tables were turned do you honestly think you would want the invading force to stay or leave... lol.... the US should get the hell out.... and pay for all the damages...PERIOD<br /><br /><br /> Bigthink Wed, 01 Oct 2008 01:29:06 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128/#24688 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128 All this talk is nice and provocative, but until more is collectively expected from our elected officials, senators, representatives, there will always be people like Mr Chomsky, sitting on the sidelines telling us the truth--of which we should know but have not yet heard. And the automaton will chug along, regularly depositing people like Bush/Cheney in to positions of power, and fouling up the world everywhere. The macrocorporations are getting their way--it is their automaton--and we are working in its belly, keeping it going, and getting the shaft. Until we demand better, this will be our lot Bigthink Wed, 10 Sep 2008 16:25:52 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128/#24377 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128 What seems most amazing to me about this whole 'Iraq war' is that I hear talk on TV etc by some that seem to honestly beleive that the Iraquis need to 'pay us back', basically in oil of course, for re-building' their country..<br /><br />We oursleves were lied to by our leaders and misled into 'buying off' the WMD etc etc justification, into overthrowing of our former ally (against Iran), Saddam. What a farce!!<br /><br />Why are we not involved in other African countries with worse problems? Are we that openly racial, or is simply that they don't have any thing we can exploit - or a combination perhaps?<br /><br />We are then stupefied why the (local) Iraqui 'insurgents' want us out of Iraq.. Why they are obstructists to us getting the infrastructure to remove their oil so they they can pay us back to rebuild the infrastructure -that we destroyed.. <br /><br />Can we step out of our closed little world and think what we would e doing if the shoe was on the other foot.. What if China invaded to get us out from under GW Bush? and they allowed us to use our natural resources to pay them back to rebuild with obviously crroked non-competitive contracts..<br /><br />My stepson 'signed up' for the army in the post 9-11 fervor and is finally back - hopefully for good - although he keeps getting re-enlistment stuff in the mail to keep him, and us, on edge.. Many of his buddies were recently re-deployed - nedles to say h feels guilty - although he is fully aware of the sham that this war is..<br /><br />He also made us aware of the 'Blackwater' & similar scams well before it hit the airwaves.. Talk about a disillusioned group of soldiers.. Do we think they are all blind and total morons not to see what is going on?<br /><br />God Bless Arerica.. The Lord knows fully how much we need all the blessings he can bestow on us!!<br /><br />Lord, please save us from our leaders!!! Bigthink Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:50:12 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128/#22228 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128 <br /><br />Why don%u2019t we allow the Iraqis to hold a nationwide referendum on whether or not the United States should promptly withdraw from Iraq? I have been wondering about this for some time. I have never seen this idea seriously proposed by anyone in our government, but it seems so obvious to me. The Bush administration touts that it has brought democracy to Iraq, and the world has seen elections successfully held in there. If Iraq is stable enough for its people to participate in a general election, then the country must be stable enough to hold a referendum on US withdrawel. A referendum of the sort I propose is good for both the United States and Iraq. If the Iraqis vote %u201CYes, the United States should leave,%u201D the United States could then withdraw without losing face and without emboldening Al Qaeda, since our withdrawal would be implemented out of respect for the will of the Iraqi people, not be due to a loss of will on behalf of the United States. Alternatively, if the Iraqis say, %u201CNo, the United States should stay to help maintain stability,%u201D the United States can justify its continued presence in Iraq to itself and to the rest of the world. The United States would then be seen as a peace keeping nation rather than an occupying nation.<br /> Bigthink Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:19:50 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128/#20444 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128 I want to first thank Dr.Chomsky for raising such issues to sparks debates concerning critical issues. We can only hope that it leads to more public awareness. And also, excuse my use of wordiness and run-on sentences, I hope that my statements make some sort of sense, haha.<br /><br />To address area51ejc, I think that the only way that legitimate foreign policy and normal diplomatic relations can be reached is by understanding what IS legitimate about our interests. If our national interests are in nuclear proliferation, ecology, economics, etc,(and understand WHY these are important to us) then I think it is easy to say that a question will arise: are our interests and Israels interests what's popular to the Arab nations? If not, then why? I think that they disagree because they see a lack of legitimacy in our own national interests (perhaps benign, but still unshared in interest), yet there is a continuation of our (and Israels's)policy of the forcing of these people to be compliant and submit. Therefore, cooperation with these established, conflicting interests between the Arab world and the US, is out of question. Last, Israel was a state created out of the British-Mandate, a document which servers self interest while disregarding the current inhabitants opinion (and even international). So, to follow Chomsky's model, the evil which follows is the responsibility of those who committed to the evil.<br /><br />To chebyshev153, when you imply that this "democracy" is a step forward in empowering the Iraqi pop., I disagree. Although terrible atrocities were committed under Saddam, and although he had autocratic control, the Iraqi's still had the eventual ability to change their environment, but now that there is conlficting foreign interests(with the US aggressors), there is less focus on shared interests to compromise on, and more focus on fighting over what isn't commonly believed to be best. To me it seems to result in an nearly impossible compromise since there is a three way conflict in interest. I think when Chomsky mentions the US-led Iraqi government, and how there's no real idea of what the Iraqi's opinion is, he is implying that no legitimate democracy can function to serve the majority. If the government is only applying policy which serves the fortified green zone, then it is going to serve the interests of those in power, which trickles down to primarily US policy. The resulting policy from the new Iraqi government is only serving itself in order to carry out the ideals which it was initially founded on, and non-compliance with that ideal implanted by the US would result in self destruction.<br /> Bigthink Fri, 30 May 2008 06:31:29 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128/#19044 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128 "normal" relations? "normal foreign policy"? I wish Dr Chomsky would take some time to share his definitions of both. This country has never had "normal" of either: we have contradicted ourselves in over two centuries of foreign policy. In a democratic republic, "normal" relations with other nations is challenging for its citizens. In his essay he spoke of the moral responsibility the USA has in the middle east because of its "power". From a middle easterner's point of view, however, the "power" rests with Israel and the USA is simply Isreal's well armed Licktenstein, doing what Israel wants it to do. Our success in the mid east may depend on two strategies:<br />--treating Israel as an "equal" among sovereign nations in the mid east and not our "favorite son"><br />--changing the tone of our foreign relations away from seeking democratic reforms to finding ways for us to cooperate with mid east nations on what is really important: ecology, energy, economics and nuclear proliferation. It is time we recognized that we should not be meant to feel guilty by folks like Dr Chomsky for furthering our legitimate national interests as long as we seek cooperation and not submission to democratic principals first. Bigthink Thu, 08 May 2008 22:35:12 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128/#16835 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128 hey The Snoo....like your icon...Che is my favorite executioner of homosexuals!! i agree we should have left Iraqi's to Saddam....he knew how to torture!!! he knew how to eliminate the enemy!! Bigthink Tue, 06 May 2008 03:12:22 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128/#16648 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128 The claim that the opinions of Iraqis should matter, that they should have a say over affairs that affect their country, is a reasonable one. Yet without a functioning democracy, by definition, the goal of empowering the Iraqi people will never be achieved. Under Saddam, "Iraqis" in the plural had essentially no power; one Iraqi controlled the whole system. Clearly, today the situation is little better in terms of the power that the common people hold. While the US was clearly incorrect when it acted as the aggressor in an unjustified war, I feel we now have some responsibility to make sure or at least make an effort to ensure that democracy does in fact take root in Iraq. If we simply leave now, while we will be satisfying the short term desire of Iraqis to be free of American occupation, we will be doing nothing to further the long term goal of empowering the Iraqi populace. If we genuinely think the opinions of Iraqis matter, we should help them to establish some system where the will of the Iraqi people is translated into policy ie a democracy. That being said, at some point it may become clear that our capacity to do good is far less than our tendency to damage (maybe this is already true), and at this point we should pull out. But then the decision is not based on our perception of Iraqi opinion, but rather on our estimation of our effect on the welfare of Iraq. Bigthink Tue, 06 May 2008 02:29:16 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128/#16637 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128 I have trouble sleeping at night worrying about the harm that we have caused to thousands of Iraqi families. I can't imagine that the American people are so callous as to ignore their suffering. Yet, I never hear a word mentioned by our politicians or on the media that acknowledges our crimes. Noam Chomsky begins to explain why, but there is surely more. Prof. Chomsky is one of my personal heros. He is a giant among Americans, and is one of our greatest patriots because he fights for true American ideals. His eloquent discussion is worth listening to again and again, and sharing with friends. Bigthink Mon, 05 May 2008 19:57:17 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128/#16594 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128 I really do not disagree, that was an accident!!!!!!! Bigthink Wed, 02 Apr 2008 05:55:47 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128/#13145 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128 You are the American Hero, a freedom fighter like no other. I remember in 85, when I first heard your central arguments. Your views have been both inspirational and enriching, and my life is better as a result of careful study of your arguments. Thanks, as always, looking forward to more soon...<br /> Bigthink Wed, 02 Apr 2008 03:33:34 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128/#13132 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128 Very insightful and well-spoken. You continue to be an unwavering source of rationality and I look forward to your next aditions to Big Think. Bigthink Wed, 26 Mar 2008 22:33:17 +0100 http://www.bigthink.com/the-world/the-middle-east/9128/#12499