Acts of Aggression, by Noam Chomsky: on Foreign Policy


US regularly in contempt of international law

Contempt for the rule of law is deeply rooted in U.S. practice and intellectual culture. Recall, for example, the judgment of the World Court in 1986 condemning the United States for “unlawful use of force” against Nicaragua, demanding that it desist and pay extensive reparations, and declaring all U.S. aid to the contras, whatever its character, to be “military aid,” not “humanitarian aid.”

The Court was denounced on all sides for having discredited itself. The terms of the judgment were not considered fit to print, and were ignored. The Democrat-controlled Congress immediately authorized new funds to step up the unlawful use f force. Washington vetoed a Security Council resolution calling on all states to respect international law--not mentioning anyone, though the intent was clear.

Source: Acts of Aggression, by Noam Chomsky, p. 23-24 Jul 2, 2002

We should not invent enemies like “rogue states”

The basic conception is that although the Cold War is over, the US still has the responsibility to protect the world--but from what? Plainly it cannot be from the threat of “radical nationalism’--that is, unwillingness to submit to the will of the powerful. Such ideas are only fit for internal planning documents, not the general public. From the early 1980s, the conventional technique for mass mobilization was losing its effectiveness: [Hence] Reagan’s ”evil empire.“ New enemies were needed.
Source: Acts of Aggression, by Noam Chomsky, p. 28 Jul 2, 2002

Indonesia is a real “rogue state”, but we like their oil

Since 1991, Iraq has displaced Iran and Libya as the leading “rogue state.” Others have never entered the ranks. Perhaps the relevant case is Indonesia, which shifted from enemy to friend when General Suharto took power in 1965, presiding over an enormou slaughter. Suharto killed 10,000 Indonesians just in the 1980s, according to Suharto, who wrote that “the corpses were left lying around as a form of shock therapy.”

In Dec. 1975, the UN Security Council unanimously ordered Indonesia to withdraw its invading forces from East Timor “without delay” and called upon “all States to respect the territorial integrity of East Timor as well as the inalienable rights of its people to self-determination.” The US responded by (secretly) increasing shipments of arms to the aggressors.

The US also happily accepts the robbery of East Timor’s oil (with participation of a US company), in violation of any reasonable interpretation of international agreements.

Source: Acts of Aggression, by Noam Chomsky, p. 34-35 Jul 2, 2002

  • The above quotations are from Acts of Aggression
    Policing "Rogue" States    , by Noam Chomsky, Ramsey Clark, and Edward W. Said.
  • Click here for definitions & background information on Foreign Policy.
  • Click here for other issues (main summary page).
  • Click here for more quotes by Noam Chomsky on Foreign Policy.
2016 Presidential contenders on Foreign Policy:
  Republicans:
Gov.Jeb Bush(FL)
Dr.Ben Carson(MD)
Gov.Chris Christie(NJ)
Sen.Ted Cruz(TX)
Carly Fiorina(CA)
Gov.Jim Gilmore(VA)
Sen.Lindsey Graham(SC)
Gov.Mike Huckabee(AR)
Gov.Bobby Jindal(LA)
Gov.John Kasich(OH)
Gov.Sarah Palin(AK)
Gov.George Pataki(NY)
Sen.Rand Paul(KY)
Gov.Rick Perry(TX)
Sen.Rob Portman(OH)
Sen.Marco Rubio(FL)
Sen.Rick Santorum(PA)
Donald Trump(NY)
Gov.Scott Walker(WI) 		Democrats:
Gov.Lincoln Chafee(RI)
Secy.Hillary Clinton(NY)
V.P.Joe Biden(DE)
Gov.Martin O`Malley(MD)
Sen.Bernie Sanders(VT)
Sen.Elizabeth Warren(MA)
Sen.Jim Webb(VA)

2016 Third Party Candidates:
Gov.Gary Johnson(L-NM)
Roseanne Barr(PF-HI)
Robert Steele(L-NY)
Dr.Jill Stein(G,MA)
Please consider a donation to OnTheIssues.org!
Click for details -- or send donations to:
1770 Mass Ave. #630, Cambridge MA 02140
E-mail: submit@OnTheIssues.org
(We rely on your support!)

Page last updated: Feb 22, 2019