9 -11 - Noam Chomsky

 9-11 - NOAM CHOMSKY

Remember 9/11? It's a bit after the fact now but what was all that about then? Actually, it's a bit like in twenty years time us peering out upon the smouldering wreckage of civilization from our candle-lit caves on the Mendips and asking 'Covid-19? What was all that about then?' And just as now with Covid-19 you can seek the opinion of an expert such as a virologist who's spent their whole adult life studying viruses or you can ask some bloke who once watched a video on YouTube. Or you can ask someone like Michael Gove who's told us before that we're all a bit fed up of experts and their opinions so as an elected representative of the general public here's his opinion instead. It's a democratic society, however, and apparently there's still such a thing as free choice so I know where I'd go. But as I can't find the link right now to Michael Gove being interviewed by Piers Morgan on GMTV let's have a read of Noam Chomsky instead, shall we?

I remember watching on the news the live footage of the first fire on the morning of 9/11 and the unconfirmed reports of it having been caused by an aeroplane flying into the tower. The assumption was that it was some mad accident but when the second plane flew into the second tower incomprehension took hold. Was this a series of incredible accidents or was America under attack? Nowadays there has only to be an explosion at a waste recycling plant on the outskirts of Bristol and an announcement is made to say 'the incident is not thought to be terrorist related' because the immediate assumption is that it might be. That's how far we've come since 9/11. An immediate knock-on effect of that day.

I remember going to the Anarchist Bookfair in London that year and a meeting being held, hosted by Chumbawamba's Alice Nutter, to discuss the meaning of 9/11. The conclusion was that 'my enemy's enemy is not my friend', which seems kind of obvious now but at the time it genuinely needed to be thrashed out. All of this was at the time we should not forget of mass worldwide protests against corporate globalization. For the first time in decades the term 'capitalism' and more specifically 'anti-capitalism' was back on the agenda. In London there had been the J18 riot in the heart of The City, followed by Seattle. The G8 were being hounded and everywhere they met there were huge riots. The stakes were ever-rising and in Genoa the first death was recorded with the murder of Carlo Guiliani by the Italian Carabinieri.

On the morning of 9/11 itself, a protest was being held in London Docklands against the DSEI World Arms Trade Fair and on being informed of the attacks upon America and the Twin Towers, the protesters packed-up and went home. The decision to do so was a signifier of what was to follow - a near complete collapse of the burgeoning anti-capitalist/anti-neoliberalism movement.

In the book 9-11 (which is to all intent and purpose another collection of interviews with Noam Chomsky culled from various sources) Chomsky is asked: 'What consequences do you foresee for the Seattle movement? Do you think it will suffer as a result of 9/11, or is it possible that it will gain momentum?' to which Chomsky replies 'It is certainly a setback for the worldwide protests against corporate globalization which - again - did not begin in Seattle. Such terrorist atrocities are a gift to the harshest and most repressive elements on all sides, and are sure to be exploited to accelerate the agenda of militarization, regimentation, reversal of social democratic programs, transfer of wealth to narrow sectors, and undermining democracy in any meaningful form. But that will not happen without resistance, and I doubt that it will succeed, except in the short term.'

Chomsky, however, was wrong. The fall-out from 9/11 dealt a near death blow to the 'Seattle movement' as the interviewer calls it. When protest finally started to pick up again almost ten years later the focus had shifted almost exclusively upon environmental issues and identity politics, seeded by the Occupy Movement leading subsequently to Extinction Rebellion. 

According to Chomsky, one of the most noticeable and startling things regarding 9/11 was the way in which the mainstream media and the intellectual classes in general lined up in support of power and mobilized whole populations for the same cause. Dissenting voices were stifled or even when broadcast were accused of 'siding with the terrorists'. Tony Blair made his famous speech about the kaleidoscope having been shaken whilst in America the presiding chant drowning out everything else was 'USA! USA!'

According to Chomsky, the major explanation for the attacks upon the Twin Towers put forward by the media was that the perpetrators acted out of hatred for the values cherished in the West such as freedom, tolerance, prosperity, religious pluralism and universal suffrage. As well as being at variance with everything that was known this also further stacked up the uncritical support for power.

From the mouths of the likes of Osama bin Laden himself, it was indeed a Holy War that was being fought but not against globalization or cultural hegemony but against corrupt, repressive and 'un-Islamist' regions of the Middle East and their supporters.

'Bin Laden himself has probably never even heard of 'globalization,' says Chomsky 'Those who have interviewed him in depth, like Robert Fisk, report that he knows virtually nothing of the world and doesn't care to. We can choose to ignore all the facts and wallow in self-indulgent fantasies if we like, but at considerable risk to ourselves, among others.'

The attacks on 9/11 were unquestionably acts of terrorism but so too terrorism is - according to official definitions and as evidenced by the innumerable examples Chomsky is able to give - official doctrine and not just that of the USA. Terrorism most definitely is not, as is often claimed, 'the weapon of the weak'.

It's interesting when Chomsky is asked 'Should we call what is happening now a war?' to which he replies (and let it not be forgotten that Chomsky is a professor of linguistics): 'There is no precise definition of 'war'. People speak of the 'war on poverty', the 'drug war', etc. What is taking shape is not a conflict among states.' This is very true. There is, however, a perception of the meaning of the word 'war' that cannot be denied, just as there are also very real wars that are never named as such and thus forever denied or even acknowledged.

At one point Chomsky is asked 'Can we talk of the clash between two civilizations?' meaning between the West and Islam to which Chomsky replies 'Of course not, you silly arse'. Or not in so many words but words to that effect: 'This is fashionable talk,' he says 'but it makes little sense' before reeling off a precise explanation as to why, before finishing off with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: 'Western civilization? That might be a good idea?'

Chomsky's main focus of attention these days seems to be upon environmental concerns, declaring that if mankind doesn't do something quickly about global warming then we are heading for destruction.

The world turns.

The sun rises and the sun sets.

Al Qaeda is no longer on the agenda. The ISIS death cult has apparently been smashed with only rogue elements these days making intermittent appearances. Trump has blown hot and cold with his only real legacy (apart from Covid deaths) being entrenched division on both sides of the political spectrum with a lumpen, grey mass in between wanting only a return to 'normal', whatever that means? Where the world goes from here is anyone's guess and is, of course, the eternal question. 

It should be remembered that before 9/11 occurred the global anti-capitalist movement of which this book gives mention was developing into a major force to be reckoned with, growing steadily into a many-headed Hydra that was proving ever more difficult to bring to heel. It took something as massive as 9/11 to knock it off course and though dealt a near-fatal body blow it still didn't altogether slay the dragon. In the scheme of things it's important to apply unforgiving pressure upon the leaders and their representatives of the industrial nations wherever they might meet but so too it's important to be a catalyst for revolution within your own life and within your own sphere of existence. To quote Gandhi again: 'Be the change that you wish to see in the world.'

John Serpico