Noam Chomsky visits Lebanon

Sources: Ya Libnan, Naharnet, Znet
Tuesday, 9 May, 2006 @ 6:25 PM

Beirut, Lebanon – Noam Chomsky, one of world’s most important
intellectuals, is currently visiting Lebanon.

Chomsky is an internationally esteemed academic, scholar and activist
with a unique passion for the Middle East. His illustrious
bibliography contains volumes on the very subject. The legendary
Chomsky has been one of the harshest critics of United States foreign
policy, and his latest book Failed States is no exception.

Excited about his first trip to Lebanon, Noam Chomsky is looking to
learn as much about the country as possible by “riding around in taxi
cabs” to get a different view from the one that “President George Bush
has from Texas.”

Born in Philadelphia in 1928, Chomsky spent his undergraduate and
graduate years at the University of Pennsylvania, where he received a
PhD in Linguistics in 1955. He was a Junior Fellow of the Harvard
University Society of Fellows and joined the staff of MIT (the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in 1955; in 1961 he was
appointed Full Professor in the Department of Modern Languages and
Linguistics, where he has worked ever since. In a recent interview by
Lebanese-Armenian Khatchig Mouradian, Chomsky discussed Lebanese
political affairs. Following is an excerpt from the interview:

Khatchig Mouradian – In an article entitled “Domestic Constituencies,”
you say: “It is always enlightening to seek out what is omitted in
propaganda campaigns.” Can you expand on what is omitted in the US
propaganda campaign on Lebanon and Syria after the assassination of
former Prime Minister Rafic Hariri in February 2005?

Noam Chomsky – The only thing being discussed is that there was an
assassination and Syria was involved in it. How come Syria is in
Lebanon in the first place? Why did the US welcome Syria in Lebanon in
1976? Why did George Bush I support Syrian presence and domination and
influence in Lebanon in 1991 as part of his campaign against Iraq? Why
did the US support the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982? Why did
the US support Israel’s 22 year occupation of parts of Lebanon, an
occupation in violation of Security Council resolutions? All these
topics, and many others, are missing from the discussion.

In fact, the general principle is that anything that places US actions
in a questionable light is omitted, with very rare exceptions. So if
you blame something on an enemy, then you can discuss it, and Syria,
right now is the official enemy. That doesn’t necessarily mean that
the charges against Syria are wrong. It just means that everything
else is omitted.