US is the biggest terrorist of all, claims Chomsky

THE United States is the biggest and most brutal terrorist of all by any true definition of the term, the intellectual and left-wing critic of American policy Noam Chomsky told a packed RDS last night.

At Amnesty International’s annual lecture, Prof Chomsky warned that the “war on terror” - first instigated by US President Ronald Regan in the 1980s - would have severe consequences if not curtailed.

He said that to mitigate and counter the threat of terrorism should be a priority. But instead of acting to reduce terrorism, he accused the US and Britain of doing the exact opposite.

“That is all too easy to demonstrate and the consequences are likely to be severe,” he said.

To a standing ovation from more than 2,000 people, he repeated his view that Ireland’s facilitation of the war in Iraq through the use of facilities at Shannon airport was “a crime”.

“That’s participation,” he said.

He challenged everyone to begin by accepting the responsibilities inherent in their own actions.

“Elementary principles and agreed standards of international law matter, even if they have consequences that we would prefer not to face.”

In UCD on Tuesday Prof Chomsky outlined what he sees as America’s deceitful and underhand pretence of pursuing democracy worldwide while simultaneously acting to deliberately undermine legitimate democratic governments.

He also had a harsh message for those who declined to question “the doctrine” put forward by US President George W Bush.

“In the West there is no excuse for accepting the doctrine except cowardice and subordination to power,” he said.