Afshin Rattansi interviews Prof. Noam Chomsky about Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Iraq, Republic of (Press Release) June 16, 2008 --
Afshin Rattansi: How do you characterize this so-called security treaty between Washington and Baghdad?
Chomsky: The security arrangement was in fact declared last November. There was a declaration from the White House, presumably a Bush-Maliki declaration, but had nothing to do with the Congress or Parliament or any other official institution. It called for an indefinite long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq and that could include the huge air bases that are now being built around Iraq.
The declaration also, a little to my surprise, had a rather brazen statement about exploiting the resources of Iraq. It said that the economy of Iraq, which means its oil resources, must be open to foreign investment, privileging American investors. That’s pretty brazen. Now that’s brazen imperialism saying we invaded you so that we can control your country; and so that our corporations can have privileged access to your resources.
Afshin Rattansi: Do you think Nouri al-Maliki will eventually succumb? I mean previous occupants of that position, well, they have come and gone. Haven’t they?
Chomsky: I mean look the country is under military occupation. It is not a free country, so there is a limit on how much any individual can do when your country is under military occupation.
Afshin Rattansi: Professor Chomsky, of course, one country that is being blamed by Washington is Iran and what’s on a lot of minds in the Middle East is this drumbeat of war as it were. Do you think the United States wants military action and will there be military action against Iran? And how do you characterize the IAEA’s nuclear negotiation process?
Chomsky: It is interesting, the way everything is blamed on Iran. And that’s a rather striking reflection of how deep-seated the imperial mentality is in the West, so for example when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is asked by the press: is there a solution to the problem in Iraq, and she says yes a simple solution -- foreign forces should be withdrawn and foreign arms should be withdrawn, referring of course to Iran -- people don’t laugh and collapse in ridicule.
Afshin Rattansi: We’re hearing things from Israel. There were remarks about some ‘Iran Command’ being set up. Of course, we had Seymour Hersh in the United States saying that there was going to be an attack on Iran, obviously...
Chomsky: So will it happen you mean. Nobody knows whether it will happen. I mean it’s conceivable. I mean the whole world is aghast at the possibility. One leading British military historian, Corelli Barnett, said it’ll mean world war III. I think that as far as anyone can tell, the U.S. military is opposed and U.S. intelligence seems to be opposed and surely the world is opposed. On whether they will accept those pressures or not, you can’t really tell. People like Dick Cheney are unpredictable.
Chomsky: The security arrangement was in fact declared last November. There was a declaration from the White House, presumably a Bush-Maliki declaration, but had nothing to do with the Congress or Parliament or any other official institution. It called for an indefinite long-term U.S. military presence in Iraq and that could include the huge air bases that are now being built around Iraq.
The declaration also, a little to my surprise, had a rather brazen statement about exploiting the resources of Iraq. It said that the economy of Iraq, which means its oil resources, must be open to foreign investment, privileging American investors. That’s pretty brazen. Now that’s brazen imperialism saying we invaded you so that we can control your country; and so that our corporations can have privileged access to your resources.
Afshin Rattansi: Do you think Nouri al-Maliki will eventually succumb? I mean previous occupants of that position, well, they have come and gone. Haven’t they?
Chomsky: I mean look the country is under military occupation. It is not a free country, so there is a limit on how much any individual can do when your country is under military occupation.
Afshin Rattansi: Professor Chomsky, of course, one country that is being blamed by Washington is Iran and what’s on a lot of minds in the Middle East is this drumbeat of war as it were. Do you think the United States wants military action and will there be military action against Iran? And how do you characterize the IAEA’s nuclear negotiation process?
Chomsky: It is interesting, the way everything is blamed on Iran. And that’s a rather striking reflection of how deep-seated the imperial mentality is in the West, so for example when Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is asked by the press: is there a solution to the problem in Iraq, and she says yes a simple solution -- foreign forces should be withdrawn and foreign arms should be withdrawn, referring of course to Iran -- people don’t laugh and collapse in ridicule.
Afshin Rattansi: We’re hearing things from Israel. There were remarks about some ‘Iran Command’ being set up. Of course, we had Seymour Hersh in the United States saying that there was going to be an attack on Iran, obviously...
Chomsky: So will it happen you mean. Nobody knows whether it will happen. I mean it’s conceivable. I mean the whole world is aghast at the possibility. One leading British military historian, Corelli Barnett, said it’ll mean world war III. I think that as far as anyone can tell, the U.S. military is opposed and U.S. intelligence seems to be opposed and surely the world is opposed. On whether they will accept those pressures or not, you can’t really tell. People like Dick Cheney are unpredictable.
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