Noam Chomsky on Negroponte's role in Iraq.....

[whistle]

From Central America to Iraq
Noam Chomsky
Khaleej Times, August 6, 2004

ONE moral truism that should not provoke controversy is the principle of universality: We should apply to ourselves the same standards we apply to others - in fact, more stringent ones. Commonly, if states have the power to do so with impunity, they disdain moral truisms, because those states set the rules.

That's our right if we declare ourselves uniquely exempt from the principle of universality. And so we do, constantly. Every day brings new illustrations.

Just last month, for example, John Negroponte went to Baghdad as US ambassador to Iraq, heading the world's largest diplomatic mission, with the task of handing over sovereignty to Iraqis to fulfil Bush's 'messianic mission' to graft democracy to the Middle East and the world, or so we are solemnly informed.

But nobody should overlook the ominous precedent: Negroponte learned his trade as US ambassador to Honduras in the 1980s, during the Reaganite phase of many of the incumbents in Washington, when the first war on terror was declared in Central America and the Middle East.

EDITED BY ADMIN: COPYRIGHT

<link to other articles by Chomsky>

http://www.chomsky.info/articles.htm

[gratuitous]

1. Yeah, Negroponte's a real vicious piece of work

But of course, our media don't remember anything past the last news cycle, or sometimes even from their interview subject's last sentence. Without any memory at all, and plumping hard to fatten the bottom line, "news" media do the public a real disservice when they forget about criminals like John Negroponte.

What messes will he create in the next three months that we'll be cleaning up years from now?

[glitch]

2. Oh they remember all right - it just doesn't serve their interests to

print it.

[Moderator]

3. whistle

Per DU copyrighte rules
please post only four
paragraphs from the
copyrighted news source.


Thank you.

DU Moderator