http://www.southendpress.org/books/pirates.shtml
This new, fully updated edition of Noam Chomsky’s classic dissection of terrorism explores the role of the U.S. in the Middle East, and reveals how the media are used to manipulate public opinion about what constitutes “terrorism”. With several new chapters as well as the original sections on Iran and the bombing of Libya, Pirates and Emperors is a brilliant account of the workings of state terrorism by the world’s foremost critic of U.S. terrorism.
New chapters cover the second Palestinian Intifada — or war of stones — that began in October 2000; a detailed account of the impact that September 11 has had on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East; and a deconstruction of depictions and perceptions of terrorism since that date.
Chomsky starts by tracing the changing meaning of “terrorism,” examining how it originally referred to violent acts by “governments designed to ensure popular submission.” He calls its current application “retail terrorism,” practiced by “thieves who molest the powerful.” Chomsky argues that appreciating the differences between state terror and nongovernmental terror is crucial to stopping terrorism, and understanding why atrocities — like the bombing of the World Trade Center — happen.
In comparing the “war on terror” launched by George W. Bush to that of his father and Ronald Reagan’s administrations, Chomsky recalls Winston Churchill’s summation of the terror by the powerful:
“The rich and powerful have every right to demand that they be left in peace to enjoy what they have gained, often by violence and terror; the rest can be ignored as long as they suffer in silence, but if they interfere with the lives of those who rule the world by right, the ‘terrors of the earth’ will be visited upon them with righteous wrath, unless power is constrained from within.”
Contents
Preface to the first edition
Introduction
1. Thought Control: The Case of the Middle East
2. Middle East Terrorism and the American Ideological System
3. Libya in U.S. Demonology
4. The U.S. Role in the Middle East
5.
International Terrorism: Image and Reality
(This is also Chapter 2 of Western State Terrorism, linked to above.)
6. The World after September 11
7. U.S./Israel-Palestine
Notes
Index
Reviews
“Noam Chomsky is one of the most significant challengers of unjust power and delusions; he goes against every assumption about American altruism and humanitarianism.”
— Edward Said
“Chomsky strips away layers of propaganda not recognized as propaganda, brilliantly sifting through political discourse.”
— John Pilger
“Chomsky ranks with Marx, Shakespeare, and the Bible as one of the ten most quoted sources in the humanities.”
— The Guardian
“Judged in terms of the power, range, novelty, and influence of his thought, Noam Chomsky is arguably the most important intellectual alive.”
— New York Times Book Review
“Chomsky’s work is neither theoretical, nor ideological: it is passionate and righteous. It has some of the qualities of Revelations, the Old Testament prophets and Blake.”
— Times Literary Supplement
“An exploder of received truths.”
— New York Times
“One of the radical heroes of our age. ... A towering intellect.”
— Guardian
About the Author
Noam Chomsky is a major figure in twentieth-century linguistics. He has taught since 1955 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he became a full professor at the age of 32. His 1957 work Syntactic Structures revolutionized the field of linguistics, fundamentally changing the current understanding of language and mind. In 1976 he was appointed Institute Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT. Currently he is also the Ferrari P. Ward Professor of Modern Languages and Linguistics.
Chomsky has received honorary degrees from the University of London, University of Chicago, Georgetown University and Cambridge University. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. His work in linguistics, which has been internationally acclaimed, has earned Chomsky the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association, the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences and the Helmholtz Medal.
Born in Philadelphia on December 7, 1928, Chomsky became politically conscious at a very young age, writing his first political article, on the fight against fascism in Spain, when he was only ten years old.
Chomsky has written many books on contemporary issues and is an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy and corporate power. His political talks have been heard, typically by standing-room only audiences, all over the country and the globe.
In a saner world, his tireless efforts to promote justice would have long since won him the Nobel Peace Prize. But no, the committee prefers to give it to sleazy war criminals like Henry Kissinger.
Books by Noam Chomsky
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Acts of Aggression:
Policing “Rogue States”
(with Ramsey Clark and Edward W. Said)
-
After the Cataclysm: Postwar Indochina and the Reconstruction of Imperial Ideology
(with Edward S. Herman)
South End Press, 1980
-
Aspects of the Theory of Syntax
-
At War with Asia
Pantheon, 1970
-
The Chomsky Trilogy
-
The Chomsky Reader
-
Chronicles of Dissent
-
Class Warfare
-
The Cold War and the University
-
The Common Good
-
The Culture of Terrorism
South End Press, 1988
-
Deterring Democracy
Routledge, Chapman & Hall, 1991; Verso 1991
-
Fateful Triangle:
The United States, Israel, and the Palestinians
South End Press, 1983; Noontide, 1986
-
For Reasons of State
Pantheon, 1973
-
“International Terrorism: Image and Reality”
chapter 2 of the book Western State Terrorism
Routledge, 1991; Polity-Blackwell, 1991
-
Keeping the Rabble in Line
-
Language and Mind
-
Language and Problems of Knowledge
-
Latin America
-
Letters from Lexington
-
Manufacturing Consent:
The Political Economy of the Mass Media
(with Edward S. Herman)
Pantheon, 1988
-
Media Control:
The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda
-
Mobilizing Democracy: Changing the U.S. Role in the Middle East
(edited by Greg Bates)
Common Courage Press, 1991
-
Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies
South End Press, 1989
-
The New Military Humanism
-
The New World Order
(speech)
Open Magazine Pamphlet Series, 1991
-
On Power and Ideology: the Managua Lectures
South End Press, 1987
-
Paths to Peace in the Middle East
-
Pirates and Emperors: International Terrorism in the Real World
Claremont, 1986; Black Rose Books, 1987; Amana, 1988
-
Powers and Prospects
-
Profit Over People
-
The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many
-
Radical Priorities
Black Rose Books, 1981
-
Rethinking Camelot
-
Secrets, Lies and Democracy
-
Syntactic Structures
1957
“...Syntactic Structures revolutionized the field of linguistics, fundamentally changing the current understanding of language and mind.” — South End Press
-
Terrorizing the Neighborhood: American Foreign Policy in the Post-Cold War Era
(speech)
Pressure Drop Press, 1991
-
Towards a New Cold War: Essays on the Current Crisis and How We Got There
Pantheon, 1982
-
Turning the Tide: U.S. Intervention in Central America and the Struggle for Peace
South End Press, 1985
-
The Umbrella of U.S. Power:
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Contradictions of U.S. Policy
-
U.S. Gulf Policy
(speech)
Open Magazine Pamphlet Series, 1990
-
The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism
South End Press, 1979
-
World Orders; Old and New
-
What Uncle Sam Really Wants
Odonian Press, 1992
- Year 501: The Conquest Continues
Audio books:
-
The New Military Humanism
- Paths to Peace in the Middle East
Other works:
-
Introduction to
Censored 2001
-
Introduction to
Colombia: the Genocidal Democracy
-
Introduction to Bridge of Courage
-
Contributor to Corporations Are Gonna Get Your Mama
- Introduction to East Timor
Related site
The Noam Chomsky Archive
http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/
“This archive is hosted by ZNet, the web site of Z Magazine. It contains the full text to many of Chomsky’s major works, the complete audio to several important lectures, and numerous articles, interviews and speeches.”
Related pages
Israeli state terrorism:
An American Heroine, Murdered by Israelis
American-Israeli Terrorism of the Palestinian People
A description of the sadistic nature and scope of Israeli state terrorism, with related sites for more information.
The Israeli Connection To 9-11
Albert Einstein Condemns Israeli Nazis
Zionism is Jewish Naziism: A Photo Essay on Israeli State Terrorism
Ariel Sharon: The Jewish Hitler
Return of the Terrorist: The Crimes of Ariel Sharon
Bibliography:
Racist Zionism: Israeli Apartheid
The Jenin Massacre:
Massacre at Jenin: “I now know the smell of death...”
Eyewitness Jenin: Evidence of a Massacre
The Israelis are Guilty of Mass Murder in Jenin
Human Rights Watch report excerpts
“Sanity was buried alive...” at Jenin
9-11:
The United States Government Committed the September 11 Attacks
The Israeli Connection To 9-11
Fox News Special Report: Israeli Spying on the U.S.
Massive Israeli Spy Ring Linked to September 11
9-11 Was a Mossad “False Flag Operation”
9-11, Mossad, the CIA and “False Flag Operations”
The CIA, Insider Trading and the World Trade Center Terror Attack
Fake Terror: the Road to Dictatorship
Operation 911: NO SUICIDE PILOTS
Related books
Terrorizing the Neighborhood:
American Foreign Policy in the Post-Cold War Era
by Noam Chomsky
Pressure Drop Press, 1991
Body of Secrets:
Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency
by James Bamford
In 1962, U.S. military leaders had a top-secret plan for committing terrorist attacks on Americans in Miami and Washington D.C., while blaming Cuba. Codenamed “Operation Northwoods”, the plan was intended to provide the propaganda necessary to create popular support for an invasion of Cuba.
The Culture of Terrorism
by Noam Chomsky
What Uncle Sam Really Wants
by Noam Chomsky
Western State Terrorism
Alexander George, editor; essays by Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman, Gerry O’Sullivan and others
The Real Terror Network:
Terrorism in Fact and Propaganda
by Edward S. Herman
Rogue State:
A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower
by William Blum
Killing Hope:
U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since WWII
by William Blum
The Fire This Time:
U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf
by Ramsey Clark
Desert Slaughter:
The Imperialist War Against Iraq
by the Workers League
Apocalypse 1945:
The Destruction of Dresden
by David Irving
Blackshirts and Reds:
Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
by Michael Parenti
The Beast Reawakens
by Martin A. Lee
To Kill A Nation:
The Attack on Yugoslavia
by Michael Parenti
Against Empire
by Michael Parenti
The Sword and the Dollar:
Imperialism, Revolution and the Arms Race
by Michael Parenti
Eyewitness Sudan:
The War of the Future
Video, produced by Ellen Andors
A People’s History of the United States:
1492 — Present
by Howard Zinn
Bloody Hell:
The Price Soldiers Pay
by Daniel Hallock
Deadly Deceits:
My 25 years in the CIA
by Ralph W. McGehee
Derailing Democracy:
The America the Media Don’t Want You to See
by David McGowan
Hidden Agenda:
U.S./NATO Takeover of Yugoslavia
by Ramsey Clark, Nadja Tesich, Michel Chossudovsky, Slobodan Milosevic, numerous authors
NATO in the Balkans:
Voices of Opposition
by Ramsey Clark, Nadja Tesich, Sean Gervasi, Sara Flounders, Gary Wilson, Richard Becker and Thomas Deichmann
Colombia:
The Genocidal Democracy
by Javier Giraldo
I Was Never Alone:
A Prison Diary from El Salvador
by Nidia Diaz
Corporate Predators:
The Hunt for Mega-Profits and the Attack on Democracy
by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman
Saving Private Power:
The Hidden History of “The Good War”
by Michael Zezima
The Continuing Terror Against Libya
by Fan Yew Teng
The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb
by Gar Alperovitz
The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
by Gore Vidal
Manufacturing Consent:
The Political Economy of the Mass Media
by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
Inventing Reality:
The Politics of News Media
by Michael Parenti
Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy
by Robert W. McChesney
War, Lies & Videotape:
How media monopoly stifles truth
edited by Lenora Foerstel; multiple authors