[Vision2020] I'm Waiting, Dave! Re:Chomsky Quote

[David M. Budge]

Ted,

In case you missed it, I said I agreed with Chomsky on a few issues such 
as Kissinger and Chile.

And I won't quit looking because Chomsky is not a reliable narrator on 
the matter.

FYI. - to this day I believe that our mission in Vietnam was wrong and I 
subscribe to the
fact that U.S. policy has been deplorable in many instances.  But one 
must also admit
that it is not simply the U.S. that is at fault in atrocities and 
Chomsky rarely lays any culpability
on Chinese or Soviet misdeeds, of which the deaths accrue in the millions.

The U.S. backing of Pol Pot was in response to Vietnam invading 
Cambodia, but you know this.
Peace stalwarts, such as George McGovern, insisted that we had violated 
our agreement under
the Paris accords by not re-entering Indo-china after the fall of 
Saigon. At that point we were damned
regardless of our position.  Chomsky reacted to McGovern at the time 
quite adversely.  Living up to
that agreement was not, nor has not since, been a discussion that 
Chomsky addresses
with fairness as far as I have found.  Ask him about it.  And ask him 
about footnotes in his
 writing that circle back to his own work too.  No wonder not a single 
historical review has been
written on any of his "historical" books by anyone in the academy of 
history.

I've got no dog in this fight.  U.S. foreign policy historically has 
been duplicitous and inconsistent.
I have never defended it, although you seem to think that I'm a 
uncritical defender of American
policy.  Our support of countries like Saudi Arabia and Egypt is 
inconsistent with our own
Constitution and I have taken that view for several decades.  I despised 
the policies of Johnson,
Nixon and Ford in particular.  I fault Carter for being an appeaser and 
a supporter of Egypt,
Reagan for standing behind middle-eastern despots, Bush I and Clinton 
for the same. 

I do not criticize Chomsky in defense of anything.  I criticize him 
because he is an anti-Semitic
bigot, unbalanced in his outlook, and an intellectual fraud for 
professing that he is an anarchist.

He'll get no respect from me. Not ever!

db

Tbertruss at aol.com wrote:

>
> Dave et. al.
>
> Thanks for replying. 
>
> The Chomsky quote you tried to mud-sling, with no evidence presented, 
> does not exist, according to Noam Chomsky, with whom I have been in 
> direct correspondence.  You can quit looking.
>
> There is such an abundance of scathing attacks against Chomsky that 
> are full of half truths and exaggerations and out of context 
> references to his statements that someone could write a tome just 
> criticizing all the criticisms.
>
> All scholars make mistakes, regardless of their ideology.  But Chomsky 
> is one of the most careful and thorough researchers and writers I have 
> ever read.  However, he has worked at exposing and analyzing facts 
> that many in very powerful positions, both in government and the 
> private sector, do not appreciate being exposed.  Thus the deliberate 
> and systematic attempt to discredit his work and person with less than 
> scholarly tactics.  Like plastering him with a nasty connection to a 
> brutal dictator like Pol Pot.
>
> Today on NPR, Philip Short, who wrote "Pol Pot: Anatomy of a 
> Nightmare," was interviewed.  According to Short, the US backed Pol 
> Pot in a resistance effort after the Vietnamese invaded and removed 
> him from power, playing the usual cold war covert games.  During this 
> period, 100,000 more were killed, and many of the land mines that now 
> continue to kill and maim were laid, funded in part by US sources.
>
> Dave, maybe you could investigate US government policy regarding Pol 
> Pot to find "scary" personalities who really endorsed and funded Pol 
> Pot, rather than attacking an MIT scholar, and one of the greatest 
> geniuses of the last century, for statements he never made.
>
> Ted Moffett
>
>
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