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Summary: It doesn't matter if you agree with him...
Review: The world became a significantly more dangerous place on September 11th, 2001, and, as Chomsky points out in this packed little book, not just for Americans. In these times what is probably more crucial than that is developing, personally, publically, and politically, an understanding of the nature of our own views and the consequences of our actions.
Chomsky saws through the rhetoric of terrorism, showing us what terrorism looks like when the guns are pointed the other way, and he provides no shortage of examples of this phenomena, Nicuragua and East Timor to name only two of the most devestating. Using the official definition of a terrorist act, the one held by the US Government and the World Court, and then looking at the US's own policies, Chomsky argues (surprise!) that the United States is one of the leading exporters of terrorism in the world.
Even if you do not personally agree with this view, the ideas in this book are so important and really must be considered if we ever hope to break out of the cycle of violence that has run the world for the entirety of the 20th Century and has only been demonstrated more strongly with Bush's actions in the 21st. We need to be asking ourselves what this "war" that we are fighting really hopes to accomplish, what is going to happen when it is done, and what kind of a wolrd we want to live in, not just as Americans but as human beings. Nobody will say that the actions of 9-11 were justified, but we can not hope to prevent them from happenning again without a critical engagement of the ideas and actions which led to their happenning in the first place. The ideas presented in this book are a step to that sort of an engagement, and I would strongly urge EVERYONE to read this book and approach it openly. It is only in such a manner can we begin to truly make the world a safer place, not for bullying and imperialistic Eurocentric regimes, but for all.
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Summary: Important Issues - Important Book
Review: This book puts the events of 9-11 into perspective against Western foreign policy since WWII. Chomsky reminds us of the USA's own spotted history of supporting/perpetrating "terrorism" in places like Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Cuba, Sudan, etc.I have been personally disappointed with the media and the public's overall reaction to 9-11 and the war in Afghanistan since. The mainstream media needs to give more air time to people like Chomsky so his type of views enter the public debate. The book's only real liability (and it is explained several times in the forward and in editors' notes) is that as the book consists largely of interviews conducted by phone/email with reporters around the world, there is some repetition of points Chomsky makes (although the editors pruned a great deal of repetition out, according to the notes). There is also some awkward language, presumably due to English being a second language for many of the reporters involved. Another important book by Chomsky.
Rating: 
Summary: Enlightening viewpoints
Review: Chomsky addresses the questions that very few others seem daring enough to deal with in the subject of 9-11 and terrorism. This is a piece that attacks unilateralism on every page and for every issue. Is there more than one way at looking at the events of 9-11? Is there more than one way of dealing with the aftermath? The answer is a resounding yes, and it doesn't mean that Chomsky hates Americans or likes terrorists; on the contrary, he wants - as much as or more than anyone - peace and justice. Justice, however, comes in many shapes and needs to be used on all guilty parties. The lack of a 5th star is due mainly to the format and vagueness on certain issues. The interview format makes for an easy, informal read, but it does not facilitate the depth and detail that you would find in a full-scale book.
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Summary: Can we handle the truth?
Review: Sobering and unsettling pronouncements jump off the pages (ALL the pages) of this work. Colin Powell, in an interview shortly after the atrocity, was asked "Why do they hate us?" Powell responded to the effect that they hate us because we love freedom. Powell is well-liked in this country -- but somewhat naive if he truly believes his own statement. Such short-sightedness permeates our culture and we need to apprise ourselves of the complexities of world affairs. We also need to face the fact that the U.S. (along with Israel) voted against a UN resolution condemning terrorism. Can we handle the truth that the U.S., since the end of World War II, has BOMBED forty countries? That millions of innocent civilians around the world have died as a result of our adventures. That Uncle Sam has been in bed with rather unsavory characters like Suharto, Noriega, Hussein, Bin Laden and many leaders of supremely repressive regimes. Chomsky helps us to realize the inescapable conclusion: the United States is the world's foremost perpetrator of terrorism.
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Summary: Is the U.S. a "leading terrorist state"?
Review: A collection of interviews conducted with renowned political activist Noam Chomsky by various journalists (mostly foreign) in the month following the Sept. 11 attacks, "9-11" presents what will undoubtedly be an unpopular argument against the United States' "War on Terrorism" in Afghanistan and beyond. Although Chomsky leaves no question that the actions of bin Laden and his "associates" (his way of referring to the Al Qaeda organization) are "horrifying atrocities", he is also quick to point out that the United States itself has a long history of state-sponsored "terrorist" acts, citing in particular our past involvement in Sudan, Nicaragua and Bosnia. He downplays our need to invade Afghanistan, contending that our primary objective in response to Sept. 11 should have been to hunt down the individual terrorists rather than drop bombs on a country already devastated by decades of war and oppression, sending its people into further destitution. This course of action, according to Chomsky, has only served to prove to other nations that we are indeed the world's "leading terrorist state". The most prominent flaw in his argument, in my humble opinion, is that the alternative Chomsky suggests, seeking justice by means of a global manhunt supervised by the UN and followed by a trial before the World Court, is a concept which sounds good in theory but in all likelihood would work out poorly in practice. ... we've successfully managed to flush out the Taliban ... so perhaps his point is on its way to being proven. In any case, Chomsky sets the floodgates loose on a much wider range of issues beyond [the] need to obliterate bin Laden and his Al Qaeda cronies off the face of the planet. ... it would be in our best interest to examine our own nation's conduct in the global arena.
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Summary: More "moderate" than I thought it would be.
Review: The events of the date that makes up the title of this volume have many of us confused. How do we respond to such ruthless acts? Is a prolonged war the answer? Do we turn the other cheek? Or is there truth to what is said by some, that it's likely to happen again as the terrorist blocks are waiting for the opportunity to strike again? When I am dumbfounded by an issue and want to find facts, it is often Professor Chomsky to whom I turn. He insists upon "Cartesian common sense," despite a culture that often shuns that concept. The confusion wrought by what happened on 9/11 has to me grown rather than dwindled. I ran across this book and decided that I would read some more Chomsky to help alleviate a little of that confusion. The author gives us some facts to think about. He points out that the events of that terrible day are less like Pearl Harbor than they are like the War of 1812. At Pearl Harbor, the US was a colonial power. So the Japanese attack was not on sovereign US territory like that of that earlier war and on September of 2001. Chomsky points out that, while the US self-righteously condemns, "terrorism," we have been practicing it for decades if not centuries. Most recently, Dr. Chomsky points out, the US all but destroyed Nicaragua. And while the World Court declared that we are responsible there for criminal acts for which we should be punished, the US, a powerful land, ignores such verdicts and continues to do our collective thing wherever we please. And our constant support of Israel despite its incomparably bad human rights record just underscores that point. With those facts I agree, despite how many times they are repeated in the book. Indeed Chomsky's moderation throughout the book, which consisted of a series of interviews made around the world, leads me to believe that his harshest critics didn't read it. No, Chomsky doesn't justify what happened on 9/11. He summarily declares that what happened was criminal, it was terrible, etc. He does challenge the reader to seek evidence of whether bin Laden was responsible for the acts, though he points out also that the video tapes on which bin Laden boasts of the actions indicate that he probably was responsible for them. One issue I have with the book is that it was disorganized. As the text was taken from a series of interviews, there were some items repeated over and over. The editors tried to trim some of that but they were only marginally successful. The only other real issue I have is that Chomsky discounts the symbolism of the 9/11 attacks. The "mainstream" line is that whoever was responsible for the diabolical acts chose the World Trade Center and the Pentagon with the intent of attacking (1) today's world dominance of particularly the US and (2) the "modern world's" taste for things like materialism, women's equality, and other items people like bin Laden find repugnant. Chomsky argues that that argument is overdone, that the attack was more a response to the US's own self-serving terrorism throughout the world. Actually, in view of the media "intelligence" of the attack, i.e., the first plane hitting one WTC tower to give the media time to make a spectacle of the aircraft crashing into the second tower, there was an important symbolism in the attack. To discount that is perhaps naïve; that focus on media attention speaks to the symbolism of the actions. Overall, though, I recommend the book as food for thought. G.W. Bush and the boys are talking about a long, "protracted" war. Others--some of whom I know personally--are capitalizing off a paranoia that we're bound to be attacked again unless we increase our security to an absurd degree and even disregard some of the liberties for which the US is uniquely regarded. We seem to have forgotten that this "war" started over catching up with one, extremely wealthy Arab in a cave with a cell phone. It's obvious that we need to reconsider some of this process. And this book offers a few criteria to consider.
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Summary: An expert on Middle East issues
Review: This book was a big eye-opener for me in terms of the US and its foreign policies. However, it has to be read with an open mind because alot of the fault is blamed on the bullying of the US. Read it ...it's well worth it. THe media would never discuss issues he brings up. Like the Sudan and the implications that the sanctions placed on Iraq have on the world view of us. Although a bit out of date since it went to press in mid-October, the general idea still comes thru. America needs to change its ways if we want this so called "war on terrorism" to cease. And Bush's "Axis of Evil" comments just don't cut it. These types of sayings just aggravate the problem further and push the US into further isolation. Like another reviewer said, yes, we are at the top, in terms of being a superpower, but at the expense of stepping on a lot of little folks (smaller nations).
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Summary: There is an Alternative
Review: Americans have a right to be mad-as-hell, but no right to bomb-the-hell out of anyone else. Nor do our politicians have the right to declare open-ended war against any country of their choosing. It's hard to keep perspective following an atrocity like the twin towers, but keep perspective we must if we are not to repeat the same slaughter of innocents as the perpetrators of the attack. Applying standards of procedural justice is crucial to a fair and effective reckoning. The atrocity should be treated as a crime against humanity, not as an opportunity to launch aggression against entries on an administration hit-list. As an international crime, the machinery of world justice should be brought to bear on the perpetrators wherever they may be hiding. They should be tried and punished in a world court of law, not in the dog cages of Guantanamo. What's good enough for victims in Kosovo should be good enough for victims in New York. The alternative, to wage war against suspect coutries without clear standards or honest diplomatic effort, will only prolong the suffering, create more enemies, and militarize our society. Is the unhobbled supremacy of Corporate America worth that price. Chomsky makes the case in clear and consistent terms, refusing at the same time to undergo an historical lobotomy as prescribed by the president. Nor is the irony of an architect of global terrorism declaring war on itself lost on the author. Probably no word in our lifetime is now so exploited as that tortured term. Despite media filtration, there is an alternative, as Chomsky shows, to the present destructive course and its fog of misdirected jingoism. Though a quickie and somewhat disjointed booklet, 9-11 presents the kind of perspective unavailable in the mainstream, and for that reason should be read. The urgency becomes even greater as Bush and Company plot more conquests, more adventures, and more weapons of destruction, leading to who knows where. Though the president and his bullies would force a choosing of sides, there remains a more civilized path. The global community must insist upon it.
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Summary: Read it and make up your OWN mind!
Review: If anything, just valuable for providing a different view, a dissenting voice in these days of great crisis, paranoia and extremism. At least we can agree with Mr. Chomsky it was a huge devastating tragedy... and as his examples show, too many lives are sacrificed in the name of flags, politics and extremism way too often.
These writings are quite different from the mass media, CNN, US and UK governments' views... If you can read it with an open mind you will better understand the context of this great tragedy. There are points you will dissagree with and be disturbed by, and ultimately you will have to make up your mind ...YOURSELF!
Mr Chomsky's examples do make you take a very critical view of history and those making decisions that may alter its course... on every side and of every colour ..from businessmen, politicians, clerics, the military, capitalists, intellectuals ...and OURSELVES.
Let's look at history... there are lessons for everyone:
THE END DOES NOT JUSTIFY THE MEANS.
Rating:
Summary: Intresting, but repetive
Review: This sudo-book (closer to a phamphlet) is very important in a world where it is taboo to question the US government without shouts of "terrorist" comming up. It is rather repetive, but this can be attributed to the fact that these are interviews assembled by a third party, not a book/essay by Chomskey himself. None the less, it does detract from the reading. In short, an interesting set of oppinions with solid factial backing.
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