Power and Terror: Post-9/11 Talks and Interviews

Noam Chomsky Edited by John Junkerman In Power and Terror - his first new book following his runaway bestseller 9-11 - Chomsky presents his latest thinking on terrorism - U.S. foreign policy - and the meaning and true impact of militarism in the world today - based on a series of talks and conversations in March and May of 2002 in California - Massachusetts - and New York. Beginning with the fundamental principle that the exercise of violence against civilian populations is terror - regardless of whether the perpetrator is an underground network of Muslim extremists or the most powerful state in the world - Chomsky - in stark and uncompromising terms - challenges the United States to apply to itself the moral standards it demands of others. Chomsky reviews the history of war crimes and delivers his now-famous analysis of the double-standards and hypocrisy of Western governments - and the role of the media and intellectuals. Power and Terror is an uncompromising critique of American power. With clarity and forcefullness - he places terrorist acts in the context of American foreign intervention throughout the postwar decades--in Vietnam - Central America - the Middle East - and elsewhere. Power and Terror also includes personal reflections by Chomsky on the sources of his optimism - and the connection - if any - between his work in linguistics and his political activism. He credits the dedicated - painstaking - often unacknowledged but brave participation of ordinary citizens with making the world a more civilized place now than it was decades ago. It is perhaps this optimism that sustains his life-long mission: to bring facts to the public in the faith that - armed with information - people will use that knowledge to demand peace - democracy - and social justice. The publication of Power and Terror coincides with the release of the film Power and Terror: Noam Chomsky in Our Times - a documentary by John Junkerman. Available in Video and DVD versions. For more information - visit Global Exchange's Afghanistan - Colombia - Iraq - and Palestine Campaigns.