'The problem lies in the unwillingness to recognize that your own terrorism is terrorism'

Chomsky on terrorism. >by Saad Sayeed >Excalibur

Although Chomsky, being an American, is naturally concerned about American terrorism and American-supported terrorism, his point is broader than that. No one is prepared to admit to being a terrorist or to supporting terrorism, but what is terrorism? Who is prepared to operate according to a consistent definition? For too many, terrorism is what "they" do to us and our friends. What we and our friends do to "them" is "self-defence against terrorism". On this blog I've criticised Israel and those who claim to love it for using this logic, but they are sadly very far from being alone in this.

An interesting point- Chomsky notes that this is not the first "War on Terror". In the 1980's, the Reagan administration declared a global "war on terrorism", while committing and supporting horrendous acts of terrorism in central America, among other places. In 1986 (20 years ago- how time flies!) the U.S. carried out bombings of Libya that would have been condemned as acts of terrorism if carried out in the U.S. or Europe (What other differance was there? That the bombs were dropped from planes? Come on!). It's no accident that many of those complicit in the crimes of the Reagan administration are up to their old tricks with Bush the Second.

And what of Canada's role? Well, the Right want us to be right in there in far-away countries destroying the threat posed by "radical Islam", rounding up the usual suspects from the Muslim "fifth column" for indefinate detention to be followed at some point by rendition to torturers in their "home sweet homes", and generally doing our bit in the war for civilization.

The scary thing is, we're already doing a lot of that. But we'll be doing still more if scaremongering articles like Mark Steyn's cover story in this week's (October 23-30, 2006) issue of Maclean's Magazine have enough influence. The magazine cover, as described in Seven Oaks Magazine: "The dark, ominous image features a background mass of people entirely covered in full black face veil. In the foreground, a young pre-teenaged girl -- the only one with her face uncovered -- looks up with a dark menacing stare. The subheading on the cover hints at Steyn's argument: "The Muslim world has youth, numbers and global ambition. The West is old, barren and exhausted." (see more at http://www.sevenoaksmag.com/commentary/macleans.html)

Apparently, among other things, Steyn accuses "Big Government" of weakening popular resolve to fight terrorism- although like many a right-winger he equates Big Government with the welfare state, not with dramatic increases in military spending, nor military operations abroad, nor measures that curb civil liberties. Are military "interventions" abroad less "invasive" and "intrusive" than government interventions in the economy or in society?

Anyway, enough of this. Muslims are not the enemy. The enemy are those who would set us against each other for their own purposes. Some of the enemy are Muslim, but most are not.