Hið dulda samhengi

Jæja, ætli það sé ekki við hæfi að ég byrji á að vísa á nýlega grein eftir Chomsky eftir bloggpásuna. Hér fjallar hann um morðið á Imad Mughniyeh, háttsettum meðlim í Hizbollah og setur það í samhengi sem við vesturlandabúar fáum afar sjaldan að sjá, a.m.k. ekki í þeim fjölmiðlum sem berast okkur inn um lúguna eða á öldum ljósvakans.

...
Joy was unconstrained in Israel too, as "one of the U.S. and Israel's most wanted men" was brought to justice, the London Financial Times reported. Under the heading, "A militant wanted the world over," an accompanying story reported that he was "superseded on the most-wanted list by Osama bin Laden" after 9/11 and so ranked only second among "the most wanted militants in the world."

The terminology is accurate enough, according to the rules of Anglo-American discourse, which defines "the world" as the political class in Washington and London (and whoever happens to agree with them on specific matters). It is common, for example, to read that "the world" fully supported George Bush when he ordered the bombing of Afghanistan. That may be true of "the world," but hardly of the world, as revealed in an international Gallup Poll after the bombing was announced. Global support was slight. In Latin America, which has some experience with U.S. behavior, support ranged from 2% in Mexico to 16% in Panama, and that support was conditional upon the culprits being identified (they still weren't eight months later, the FBI reported), and civilian targets being spared (they were attacked at once). There was an overwhelming preference in the world for diplomatic/judicial measures, rejected out of hand by "the world."

Lesið restina hér: The Most Wanted List