Noam Chomsky – Interview on the war in Ukraine
Published
by
Leah Levane
JVL Introduction
This interview with Noam Chomsky is helpful and thought provoking. Even though it seems highly unlikely that the US would join in the war; there is much more here than the title would suggest. He outlines the importance of analysis even in the middle of a “hot war” and also the realistic (and very unsatisfactory) possibilities for negotiation open to Zelensky.
This article was originally published by Truth Out on Tue 1 Mar 2022. Read the original here.
Noam Chomsky: US Military Escalation Against Russia Would Have No Victors
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine took much of the world by surprise. It is an unprovoked and unjustified attack that will go down in history as one of the major war crimes of the 21st century, argues Noam Chomsky in the exclusive interview for Truthout that follows. Political considerations, such as those cited by Russian President Vladimir Putin, cannot be used as arguments to justify the launching of an invasion against a sovereign nation. In the face of this horrific invasion, though, the U.S. must choose urgent diplomacy over military escalation, as the latter could constitute a “death warrant for the species, with no victors,” Chomsky says.
Noam Chomsky is internationally recognized as one of the most important intellectuals alive. His intellectual stature has been compared to that of Galileo, Newton and Descartes, as his work has had tremendous influence on a variety of areas of scholarly and scientific inquiry, including linguistics, logic and mathematics, computer science, psychology, media studies, philosophy, politics and international affairs. He is the author of some 150 books and the recipient of scores of highly prestigious awards, including the Sydney Peace Prize and the Kyoto Prize (Japan’s equivalent of the Nobel Prize), and of dozens of honorary doctorate degrees from the world’s most renowned universities. Chomsky is Institute Professor Emeritus at MIT and currently Laureate Professor at the University of Arizona.
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Putin will withdraw with his demands in place, leaving Ukraine and the West guessing what will happen if they dont behave
Humanity might like to thank him as he has laid bare the nonsense behind the Nuclear deterrent
What do you do when your opponent says I’m prepared to end life on the planet if you interfere
Do you accept the consequences of a conventional war or do you defend a principal of collective security and obliterate the human race
Trident
Is neither a deterrent nor independent
Michael Portillo Tory Defence Minister
“The fate of all mankind I fear is in the hands of fools.” King Crimson.
Brilliant interview.
A splendid overview and analysis – but I quarrel with some of the conclusions. As just one example, I don’t see anti-Russian feeling (just anti-Putin feeling) in the UK press articles I read and in conversations with friends and family.
UK citizens’ respect and sympathy for the Russians’ plight could well have increased by hearing more of the circumstances they have to deal with. We have a fellow feeling with the Russians over the bad governance both societies face – we too struggle with a government that seems corrupt, unaccountable and acting against our interests.
To illustrate, many of us are AWESTRUCK by the sheer courage of those Russians protesting against their country’s invasion of Ukraine. They can reasonably expect a beating for protesting (whether by nameless thugs or by the police). They risk penalties like losing their children and premature death if / when they’re jailed. Yet they still protest in their thousands in more than 50 Russian cities.
We feel huge SYMPATHY for the Russian conscripts (whose status as conscripts should have protected them from fighting) who were conned and bullied into participating in this war.
Chomsky has made it perfectly clear that unlike the view of some on the left, Putin has absolutely no excuse or justification for his murderous invasion of Ukraine. He, just like Theresa May who attacked Syria, Tony Blair who invaded Iraq, and Netanyahu for his destruction of Gaza, is a war criminal. It is almost certain however that the last three hypocritical criminals will be calling for the head of the first but that none of them will ever face justice.
I listened today to an interview held by Jeremy Vine with some Nato person on BBC radio. The Guy told the audience that Ukraine voluntarily gave up its nuclear missiles which it apparently inherited after the break-up of the Warsaw Pact on the condition that Nato gave the undertaking to guarantee Ukraine’s security.which it promised it would, but has not done since ( neither 2014 nor likely to ever do). The undertaking was apparently given in1994. So Nato has been doing things in bad faith?
In my opinion Nato is well past its use by date. Its purpose seems to have generally been to ensure that US interests are always coming first, a very expensive ‘crowd funder’ co-financed by 29 other countries.
And whilst these power games between Nato and Russia are going on, innocent people get murdered and seem to be seen as collateral damage. That cannot be acceptable to anyone!!!
There is no doubt, as Chomsky has outlined, what the causes of the present crisis is. Putin and his cronies felt that they had no alternative to the present barbaric invasion. I suspect that NATO heads are rubbing their hands with glee that Putin fell into their trap.
Why did the United States not take the obvious step of saying that Ukraine would never be allowed to join NATO? For the very reasons they helped overthrow the Yanukovych regime in 2014.
America’s economy is driven by its military-industrial complex. It has an economic and political incentive to ensure that there are wars and to pour weapons into conflict areas. Pouring petrol on the flames is the policy of all western arms suppliers.
What do we do? Well we give support for the Russian opposition. We should also oppose sanctions, which are war by other means. Obviously we support the entry of Ukrainian refugees. However the Zelensky regime, which presided over the integration of fascist militias into their armed forces deserves no sympathy especially since it presided over the hidden war against the breakaway republics.
And we should also note that Israel is once again fishing in a trouble spot to see if it can extract potential settlers – always providing that they are ‘pure’ Jews. All those others its slapping with a 10K Shekel deposit to ensure they leave again as soon as possible
We must take the lesson from this terrifying work by Chomsky, offer the olive branch to Putin accept that we (the West) have been out of order and see if things can be toned down before we obliterate ourselves.
I note there is a concerted attack on left wing journalists and international experts like Chomsky. I have just read an article in Byline Times which makes me so angry. I subscribe to the journal which I admire. What the article attempts to do is persuade us that the US is not the global danger it was . Times have changed since Pilger and Chomsky and others began warning about US plans for global hegemony. I have watched US interference all my adult life. We should not forget their terrible record of invasions ,slaughtering millions. When Chomsky points out the criminal activities undertaken by the US and Nato( one and the same thing) since the collapse of the Soviet Union .It is plain for all to see that the US has not changed. Its advance to the Russian border was not justified. Russia was derided and humiliated. It has to bear some responsibility for this tragedy. This doesn’t mean I have any time for Putin . Russia is now ,in my opinion a Fascist state. I am horrified at its actions. Chomsky is absolutely right when he calls them a War Crime. I agree with Corbyn when he says there will have to be a political solution. Both sides will have to make concessions or the conflict will drag on for years.
Not a word about the Nazi AZOV battalions bombarding/killing Russians for the past eight years in Donbass or about the unopposed worshiping of Stepan Bandura (with the road leading from Kiev to Babi Yar named after him). Etc.
Why not?
The problem is that as a result of what Putin did – all the ex-Warsaw pact countries now want to join NATO. And who can blame them?
At the very least Ukraine** wants to be part of the European sphere of influence and who can blame it? There was already an antipathy between it and Russia*** because of the bad history between the two countries and who can blame it either?
** a majority of the ordinary people of Ukraine.
There is an exception in the people of the Donbas – as a result of the 8 year war.
*** ie Soviet Russia and its current representative in Putin
who some call the Zsar .
Reading the comments some of us know a great deal about the intricacies of the history behind this awful story, nevertheless lets keep our eye on the prize. If this war escalates, even if the West won what would it win? To try to recover in a world suffering the biggest rise in Global Warming at the precipitous moment would make the recent pandemic when 6 millions have died look like chicken feed. The prize is survival.
I think that the interview lets the present regime in Ukraine “off the hook”.
There is no mention of the war in the East of Ukraine which has been ongoing for eight years. The post 2014 Ukrainian regimes have taken sides in the contest between the USA and Russia. Since the end of the original cold war I have heard many commentators say that NATO is an institution going around the world creating problems for itself to solve. Are we seeing that scenario play out here? I think the present regime in Ukraine is being used by the USA to give Russia a problem. The ultimate aim being regime change in Moscow.
The generally accepted view is that the Russian aggression in Ukraine is unprovoked and is a war crime. I agree but the US and British aggression in Iraq and Afghanistan was similarly unprovoked. We went in there and killed a lot of poor people. Did we commit war crimes? Was there such an outcry? I guess this is happening in our backyard and that is why we are all enraged. Also is it because they are different colour and different religion ie not Christian?
The hegemony of the USA, the attacks on Russians in East Ukraine and the crazy decision of Zelensky to allow the Azov brigade to operate from within the Ukrainian army, do not give Putin any justification whatsoever for his war on Ukraine. One of Putin’s confidants said recently that Putin made it clear years ago that his aim was to reconstruct the USSR.
Diamond – there WAS an outcry – millions demonstrated
in opposition beforehand. There was a demand
afterwards that Tony Blair be prosecuted but
unfortunately it was overturned. See the
following – it is an interesting read !
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/jul/31/tony-blair-prosecution-over-iraq-war-blocked-by-judges
This model resolution from the Ukraine solidarity Campaign might connect. https://ukrainesolidaritycampaign.org/2022/03/08/table-our-model-motion-for-unions-and-labour-party/
There are comments that I agree with and others that the writers appear not to know the truth. We have had nonstop propaganda from the MSM, the BBC being the worst.
This war is down to the US. The Peace Treaty that ended the Cold War, they’ve broken it several times. The agreement was, NATO wouldn’t expand Eastward, yet they allowed all ex Russian Countries to not only join NATO, the US have built fully armed Military Bases, including missiles.
,Then in 2014 the US funded a Coup in the Ukraine, which saw the overthrow of the elected Government, it was replaced with a Rightwing government that was ready to do deals with the US, including applying to join NATO.
Imagine if the Russians made an alliance with Mexico and built fully armed Military bases along its border, the U.S. would have had a full scale war with Mexico.
Putin had warned that he wouldn’t stand by and would retaliate.
Zelensky has been portrayed as a wonderful leader, yet he invited the Nazis to join the army. Read this article about him from the Guardian, it isn’t what you would expect after reading and listening to the propaganda that tells us he’s basically a hero.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2021/oct/03/revealed-anti-oligarch-ukrainian-president-offshore-connections-volodymyr-zelenskiy?fbclid=IwAR2QY7iCGbMwEgmyMzENAS7AJgp_aVN8lCH4T27C_uEtlyzYTM3X9aGxV7k