By Reginald Johnson
World renown
intellectual and social critic Noam Chomsky is warning of catastrophe if the
Ukraine War continues.
The MIT professor
emeritus of linguistics and longtime anti-war activist told an audience at the
Peoples Forum in New York City recently that the war creates the potential for disaster
in two ways – first by triggering a sharp increase in the use of highly
polluting fossil fuels at a time when the world has only limited time left to
avoid a climate collapse, and second, by creating the real possibility of
nuclear war between the United States and Russia.
“The longer the war
continues the greater will be the toll, reaching very fast perhaps, to the end
of organized human life, speak of the vast number of species we are wantonly
destroying,” Chomsky said.
“And that of course
is assuming we can ward off the option of destroying ourselves more
expeditiously with nuclear war, a possibility that is casually being discussed,
as if it were an option – it’s an indescribable descent to a state beyond
insanity.”
“Sorry if these
remarks seem hyperbolic. They are not,” Chomsky said. “All of this tells us
that every possible path to a diplomatic settlement should be pursued in accord
with the wishes of almost the entire world, including the core of Europe… There
is no time for delay,” he said.
Chomsky delivered
his sobering message during a panel discussion entitled “The Real Path to Peace
in Ukraine.” The event, co-sponsored by the ANSWER Coalition, was designed to
discuss ways to develop a wider protest movement aimed at stopping the war.
Among those joining
Chomsky was peace activist Medea Benjamin of Code Pink; Dr. Jill Stein, former
Green Party presidential candidate and historian and commentator Vijay Prashad.
The discussion took
place as the Ukraine-Russia war is now in its ninth month and shows little
signs of letting up. Approximately 100,000 casualties have been reported and
there’s been widespread damage to Ukraine’s infrastructure. Leaders of both
Ukraine and Russia have said the use of nuclear weapons is not out of the
question.
Meanwhile, the Biden
administration has shown no interest in promoting peace talks to end the
conflict; in fact, a tentative deal to end the war last April was rejected by
the White House.
Administration
officials as well as leaders in both political parties in Congress maintain
that continued aid is needed to help Ukraine win back its freedom, resist
“Russian aggression” and stop a claimed “threat” posed to the rest of Europe.
Critics charge
however, that the real goal of the United States in funding the war is a
geopolitical one: weaken Russia and eventually spark regime change in that
country; Ukraine is simply being used in that process.
So far the United
States has given nearly $100 billion --- much of it lethal military hardware
--- to help Ukraine fight Russia.
 |
| The Ukrainian military has gotten billions of dollars in aid from the US to fight Russia. |
“We’re saying ‘no’
to this proxy war, we’re saying ‘no’ to the US government policy of bleeding
Russia through the lives of countless Ukrainians,” said Manolo De Los Santos,
co-director of the People’s Forum, in introductory remarks. “We are not going to wait for nuclear
war. We are not going to wait for global
famine. We are not going to wait for a further energy crisis…We will not allow
them to sacrifice either Ukrainian or
Russian people or better yet we will not allow them to sacrifice the planet for
their new war of greed.”
Benjamin said it
will take a broad-based grassroots movement to force a change in US policy on
the war, which is supported even by so-called “progressive Democrats” in
Congress.
“It’s important to
gather up our forces and to extend them to get the people in the environmental
movement to recognize that this war has only led to production of more dirty
energy, giving a green light to the oil and gas and coal and nuclear weapons
and power producers,” Benjamin said, adding, “we have to get the environmental
movement to work with us to say that this war and all wars are so destructive
of the environment and they have to stand with us for peace.”
The Code Pink
founder continued, “We also call on the faith-based movement to say war is
immoral, all wars are immoral and they need to come with us and call for a
‘Christmas Truce’ like the one that happened during World War I… We are calling
on faith-based leaders around the country to join the Pope, who has said we
must get all sides to the table.”
chmsky.jpg) |
| Noam Chomsky |
In her remarks,
Stein said the war represented “end-stage capitalism” in which only the elites
are benefitting from war --- through arms sales and oil profits – while the
vast majority of people around the country and the world are seeing a decline
in their quality of life.
“The chickens have come
home to roost back here in the seat of the Empire,” she said. “The chickens
have come home to roost in the struggles of the poor and the working poor who
are growing by the millions in the US and around the world. Hundreds have
joined the ranks of the billionaire class while hundreds of millions have
joined the ranks of poverty.
“So the system just
doesn’t last,” Stein said. “And we’re all in the crossfire – not just the
people of Ukraine who are being set up to the last person, man, woman and child
--- their lives are being expended --- we are all part of this vast exercise of
unaccountable and abusive power on the part of economic elites. We are saying
no more. The buck stops,” she said.
The 2016
presidential candidate said there is a disconnect between how members of
Congress see the nation’s priorities and how regular people see them. She said
that Gallup polls indicate that economic priorities --- such as inflation and
cost-of-living issues relating to housing and healthcare are at the top of the
list of concerns cited by working people.
Stein said “70,000
people in the United States are dying for lack of health insurance every year
and housing is an acute crisis with 11 million people facing eviction.” But
Congress is not targeting funding to deal with these problems.
“If you look at Congress it’s very clear and explicit that
it’s funding for a new generation of nuclear weapons and more tanks for Ukraine
and armaments that is their number one priority,” she said.
Santos said about
the panel discussion, “This is not “a one-off event. This the beginning of a
movement to fully challenge NATO and US imperialism.”
A series of actions
and anti-war protests are planned for January, he said.
chmsky.jpg)