American intellectual and linguist Noam Chomsky, a decades-long critic of American foreign policy, said in an interview with the weekly “New Statesman” that Russia behaves with restraint and moderation in Ukraine.
He compares Russia’s way of warfare with the American invasion of Iraq in 2003 and points out that the Russians could make Kiev unlivable, as Baghdad was. He claims that Ukraine is not a free actor, but depends on what the US decides. He believes that Washington is provoking China as it provoked Russia by expanding the NATO alliance.
The famous American intellectual, linguist, philosopher, writer and professor Noam Chomsky is one of the loudest critics of the foreign policy of the United States of America since the Vietnam War.
His 1967 essay “The Responsibility of Intellectuals” condemned the American intellectual elite, especially social scientists and Washington technocrats, for, in Chomsky’s view, helping the then US administration “wash its hands” of unacceptable military endeavors and justifying crimes committed in Vietnam.
Although, 56 years later, the conflict in Ukraine is completely different from the war in Vietnam and the United States of America is not at war on foreign territory, but supports a sovereign country that has been attacked by Russia, Chomsky is equally critical of American policy, but also of Ukraine, in where his father was born, before he immigrated to the USA in 1913.
In an interview with the weekly New Statesman, Chomsky says that the US and the UK are rejecting negotiations in Ukraine for the sake of their own national interests, even though the country is already seriously devastated by the war.
“Ukraine is not a free actor, it depends on what the US determines,” Chomsky points out and says that the US supplies Kiev with weapons only to weaken Russia.
“For the US, all this is cheap. For a fraction of the colossal military budget, they are able to seriously degrade the military forces of their only real military adversary,” explains Chomsky.
He believes that Russia behaves with restraint and moderation. He compares Russia’s conduct of war in Ukraine to America’s 2003 invasion of Iraq, arguing that large-scale infrastructure destruction did not occur in Ukraine.
“Undoubtedly, Russia could do it, probably with conventional weapons. It could make Kiev unlivable, as it was Baghdad, it could attack the supply lines in western Ukraine,” Chomsky points out.
“When the USA and Britain go to war, they grab the right by the throat”
When asked if he implies that Russia is fighting in Ukraine more humanely than the US is fighting in Iraq, Chomsky says that it is quite obvious.
He points out that the United Nations delegations had to be withdrawn when the invasion of Iraq began because the attack was so serious and extreme.
“It’s the American and British style of warfare. Look at the casualties. All I know are the official figures, and the official United Nations figures say there are about 8,000 civilian casualties in Ukraine. How many civilian casualties were there when the US and Britain invaded Iraq?” he asks. Chomsky.
He emphasizes that the proof of Russia’s restraint is also the number of foreign officials who have traveled to Kyiv since the outbreak of war.
“When the US and Britain destroyed Baghdad, did any foreign leader go to visit? No, because when the US and Britain go to war, they grab the right by the throat. They destroy everything – communications, transport, energy, everything that makes society works,” Chomsky enumerates.
“Ukraine will never be a member of the NATO alliance”
Asked what a potential solution to the war in Ukraine might look like, Chomsky says that, first of all, Ukraine will never be a member of the NATO alliance.
“It’s a red line that every Russian leader has insisted on, from former Russian President Boris Yeltsin to former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev. Ukraine gets the status of Austria during the Cold War or Mexico today. Mexico cannot join a military alliance hostile to the US. No there’s a contract about it, but it’s perfectly obvious,” Chomsky explains.
He also commented on the desire of Sweden and Finland to become members of the NATO alliance. Although both countries explicitly cited the invasion of Ukraine as the reason for their request to join, Chomsky says claims that Russia could threaten either country are Western propaganda.
He points out that the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO has nothing to do with the fear of a Russian attack, but that joining the military alliance gives the military industry of both Nordic countries new opportunities for a large market and gives them access to modern equipment.
“Just as Washington provoked Russia, it is openly provoking China as well”
Criticism of American foreign policy did not end only with Ukraine. Just as Washington provoked Russia by expanding the NATO alliance, it is also openly provoking China because of Taiwan, Chomsky claims.
“The US is trying to surround China with a ring of sentry states armed with advanced precision weapons aimed at China,” Chomsky criticizes US defense cooperation with countries such as Japan, South Korea and Australia.
“What is the threat from China at the moment? The threat comes from the US, along with, of course, Britain. Great Britain is just a lackey at the moment. It is no longer an independent country,” Chomsky believes.
Although he says that China is “not a nice country” and that it is violating international law in the South China Sea, Chomsky points out that the talk of war over Taiwan comes only from the West.
(RTS)