[Infos] Fwd: ZNet Commentary / Solomon & chomsky / Attica - The Bombing / Sept 13

[diego at sindominio.net]

¿Algún alma caritativa con los que no tenemos estudios de inglés que se lo 
traduzca al castellano?. A much at s nosgustaría saber qué opina Noam Chomsky al 
respecto y no podemos.


Alejandra A <alejandra_alva at hotmail.com> dijo:
> >
> >http://www.zmag.org/Commentaries/donorform.htm
> >
> >>On the Bombings
> >Noam Chomsky
> >
> >The terrorist attacks were major atrocities. In scale they may not reach
> >the level of many others, for example, Clinton's bombing of the Sudan
> >with no credible pretext, destroying half its pharmaceutical supplies
> >and killing unknown numbers of people (no one knows, because the US
> >blocked an inquiry at the UN and no one cares to pursue it). Not to
> >speak of much worse cases, which easily come to mind. But that this was
> >a horrendous crime is not in doubt. The primary victims, as usual, were
> >working people: janitors, secretaries, firemen, etc. It is likely to
> >prove to be a crushing blow to Palestinians and other poor and oppressed
> >people. It is also likely to lead to harsh security controls, with many
> >possible ramifications for undermining civil liberties and internal
> >freedom.
> >
> >The events reveal, dramatically, the foolishness of the project of
> >"missile defense." As has been obvious all along, and pointed out
> >repeatedly by strategic analysts, if anyone wants to cause immense
> >damage in the US, including weapons of mass destruction, they are highly
> >unlikely to launch a missile attack, thus guaranteeing their immediate
> >destruction. There are innumerable easier ways that are basically
> >unstoppable. But today's events will, very likely, be exploited to
> >increase the pressure to develop these systems and put them into place.
> >"Defense" is a thin cover for plans for militarization of space, and
> >with good PR, even the flimsiest arguments will carry some weight among
> >a frightened public.
> >
> >In short, the crime is a gift to the hard jingoist right, those who hope
> >to use force to control their domains. That is even putting aside the
> >likely US actions, and what they will trigger -- possibly more attacks
> >like this one, or worse. The prospects ahead are even more ominous than
> >they appeared to be before the latest atrocities.
> >
> >As to how to react, we have a choice. We can express justified horror;
> >we can seek to understand what may have led to the crimes, which means
> >making an effort to enter the minds of the likely perpetrators. If we
> >choose the latter course, we can do no better, I think, than to listen
> >to the words of Robert Fisk, whose direct knowledge and insight into
> >affairs of the region is unmatched after many years of distinguished
> >reporting. Describing "The wickedness and awesome cruelty of a crushed
> >and humiliated people," he writes that "this is not the war of democracy
> >versus terror that the world will be asked to believe in the coming
> >days. It is also about American missiles smashing into Palestinian homes
> >and US helicopters firing missiles into a Lebanese ambulance in 1996 and
> >American shells crashing into a village called Qana and about a Lebanese
> >militia - paid and uniformed by America's Israeli ally - hacking and
> >raping and murdering their way through refugee camps." And much more.
> >Again, we have a choice: we may try to understand, or refuse to do so,
> >contributing to the likelihood that much worse lies ahead.
> >
> 
> >======
> >
> >
> >THIRTY YEARS LATER, MEMORIES OF ATTICA CRY OUT
> >
> >By Norman Solomon
> >
> >In a recent obituary about a former state prison official, the New York
> >Times made a passing reference to "the bloody Attica uprising in 1971,
> >which left 43 people dead." That's the kind of newspeak that presents
> >itself as journalism while detouring around truth.
> >
> >Thirty years ago, on Sept. 13, in upstate New York, a four-day standoff
> >at the Attica Correctional Facility ended when 500 state troopers
> >attacked the prison compound, firing 2,200 bullets in nine minutes. The
> >raid killed 29 inmates and 10 guards held as hostages, while wounding at
> >least 86 other people. The orders came from Gov. Nelson Rockefeller.
> >
> >Media outlets across the country reported official lies as if they were
> >objective facts -- proclaiming that the rebellious prisoners slit the
> >throats of the hostages when the troopers began their assault. Autopsies
> >later revealed that no throats had been cut; only then did authorities
> >admit that the state did the killing.
> >
> >Now, three decades later, a new full-length documentary, "The Ghosts of
> >Attica," is debuting on national television. The film includes chilling
> >photos and footage (long withheld from the public by state officials)
> >and moving interviews with former prisoners, ex-guards and others whose
> >lives were transformed by what occurred during the second week of
> >September 1971.
> >
> >"The Ghosts of Attica" premieres nationwide Sept. 9 on Court TV (at 9
> >p.m. in most time zones). Nuanced and unflinching, the 91-minute film
> >packs a powerful wallop because of its deep respect for historical
> >accuracy.
> >
> >Horrendous prison conditions prompted the Attica uprising, which began
> >as an undisciplined riot and grew into a well-focused articulation of
> >rage from men who chose to take a fateful step, fighting for human
> >dignity. While the uprising was multiracial, most of the 1,281 prisoners
> >involved were black.
> >
> >The documentary film is an indictment of what has so often passed for
> >journalism in reporting on prison-related events. Reflexively assuming
> >that the powerful white guys in positions of authority would be
> >truthful, reporters on the story got it backwards.
> >
> >While the film avoids a facile good-vs.-evil tone, there are heroes
> >nonetheless. Frank "Big Black" Smith, a prisoner who emerged as a leader
> >of the uprising, went on to work as a paralegal on the outside. Along
> >with attorney Liz Fink, he was a key coordinator of a 26-year civil
> >action lawsuit brought by Attica inmates.
> >
> >Their efforts made possible the release of more than a million
> >Attica-related files that state authorities kept claiming did not exist.
> >And, after a quarter of a century, prisoners won a $12 million
> >settlement.
> >
> >After living through the horror of the Attica bloodshed and its
> >traumatic immediate aftermath -- during which, in the words of Court TV
> >material, guards "tortured him for hours with cigarettes, hot shell
> >casings, threats of castration and death, a glass-strewn gauntlet and
> >Russian roulette" -- Frank Smith looks back with evident clarity.
> >"Attica was about wants and needs," he says. "Attica was a lot about
> >class and a lot about race."
> >
> >"The Ghosts of Attica" illuminates many dimensions, past and present.
> >"This movie is about the struggle for justice," film maker David Van
> >Taylor told me. The struggle continues; the ghosts of Attica are with us
> >-- in a country where the population behind bars, steeply skewed by
> >economic and racial bias, is enormous.
> >
> >Back in 1971, the nation's prisons and jails held 330,000 people. Today,
> >the number is 2 million.
> >
> >Many are incarcerated for drug-related offenses. A petition submitted to
> >the United Nations in late August condemned the U.S. war on drugs as
> >"not a war on plants or chemicals, but on citizens and other human
> >beings who all too often are members of racial and ethnic minorities."
> >Reuters news service noted that "whites use as many drugs as Latinos and
> >African Americans" -- while the petition to the UN pointed out that
> >among the people locked up for drug offenses, 57 percent are black and
> >22 percent are Latino.
> >
> >In the present time, "Attica is such an icon, but it's an ill-understood
> >icon," Van Taylor comments. While clearly focused on the need for social
> >justice, the film that he co-produced does not fall into simple
> >dichotomies. "The people who rebelled at Attica were not angels or
> >devils," he says. They insisted on being treated as human beings.
> >
> >Attica guards, wounded by troopers' bullets, were betrayed and neglected
> >by state authorities intent on hiding evidence and dodging
> >responsibility. Mike Smith was a young guard taken hostage by prisoners,
> >then shot in the stomach by state troopers. He says in the film: "I
> >don't know any other employer who could murder their employees and get
> >away with it, except the government."
> >
> >The guards and the prisoners were killed by the same gunfire, ordered by
> >a governor who went on to become vice president of the United States.
> >It's all in the past, and in the present. "Attica is not just an
> >isolated prison," Frank Smith says. "Attica is attitudes and behavior,
> >crime and punishment, education. It's about communication, it's about
> >alleviating racism as much as we can, it's about the criminal justice
> >system.... People need to see they are part of the problem and part of
> >the solution. Attica is all of us."
> >
> >Norman Solomon writes a syndicated column on media and politics. His
> >latest book is "The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media: Decoding Spin and
> >Lies in Mainstream News."
> >
> >--------
> >
> >
> 
> 
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