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9-11: Was There an Alternative? (Open Media Book) Kindle Edition
by Noam Chomsky (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (107)
In 9-11, published in November 2001 and arguably the single most influential post 9-11 book, internationally renowned thinker Noam Chomsky bridged the information gap around the World Trade Center attacks, cutting through the tangle of political opportunism, expedient patriotism, and general conformity that choked off American discourse in the months immediately following. Chomsky placed the attacks in context, marshaling his deep and nuanced knowledge of American foreign policy to trace the history of American political aggression--in the Middle East and throughout Latin America as well as in Indonesia, in Afghanistan, in India and Pakistan--at the same time warning against America’s increasing reliance on military rhetoric and violence in its response to the attacks, and making the critical point that the mainstream media and public intellectuals were failing to make: any escalation of violence as a response to violence will inevitably lead to further, and bloodier, attacks on innocents in America and around the world. This new edition of 9-11, published on the tenth anniversary of the attacks and featuring a new preface by Chomsky, reminds us that today, just as much as ten years ago, information and clarity remain our most valuable tools in the struggle to prevent future violence against the innocent, both at home and abroad.
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Print length
177 pages
About the Author
Born in Philadelphia in 1928, NOAM CHOMSKY is known throughout the world for his political writings, activism, and for for his groundbreaking work in linguistics. A professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology since 1955, Chomsky gained recognition in academic circles for his theory of transformational grammar, which drew attention to the syntactic universality of all human languages. But it is as a critic of unending war, corporate control and neoliberalism that Chomsky has become one of the country’s most well known public intellectuals. The 1969 publication of American Power and the New Mandarins marked the beginning of Chomsky’s rigorous public criticism of American hegemony and its lieges. Since then, with his tireless scholarship and an unflagging sense of moral responsibility, he has become one of the most influential writers in the world. Chomsky is the author of Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (with Edward S. Herman), Profit Over People: Neoliberalism and Global Order, and over one hundred other books. To this day Noam Chomsky remains an active and uncompromising voice of dissent. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Review
- "9-11 was practically the only counter-narrative out there at a time when questions tended to be drowned out by a chorus, led by the entire United States Congress, of 'God Bless America.' . . . it is possible that, if the United States goes the way of nineteenth-century Britain, Chomsky's interpretation will be the standard among historians a hundred years from now." --New Yorker
- "A badly needed corrective to news coverage of the present-day 'war on terrorism.'"
--Norman Solomon, San Francisco Chronicle Review
- "Every word of 9-11 is more relevant than ever." --Amnesty International Journal (Ireland)
- "Chomsky laments that the U.S. government largely dismissed these human rights problems in its quest to "secure our interests." The invasion of Afghanistan was far from the first time NATO overran unstable civilian populations in the search for terrorists (Chomsky offers several examples in the book) and, as we now know, it was not the last."
--Foreign Policy in Focus --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.
Product details
ASIN : B004J4X780
Publisher : Seven Stories Press; Updated, Expanded, Anniversary edition (30 August 2011)
Language : English
File size : 1961 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 177 pagesBest Sellers Rank: 268,774 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)71 in National & International Security (Kindle Store)
94 in 21st Century American History
101 in Terrorism (Kindle Store)Customer Reviews:
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars (107)
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Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky (/ˈnoʊm ˈtʃɒmski/; born December 7, 1928) is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, logician, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes described as "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy, and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He has spent more than half a century at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he is Institute Professor Emeritus, and is the author of over 100 books on topics such as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media. Ideologically, he aligns with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism.
Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by https://www.flickr.com/photos/culturaargentina [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.
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Top reviews from other countries
martha maclean
5.0 out of 5 stars arrived on time , condition good , as advertised, no problemsReviewed in Canada on 14 June 2020
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i should be so lucky with all my purchases ,arrived on time , condition good , as advertised, no problems, will buy from again
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P. Barbara
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 April 2017
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Item arrived on time and was as advertised
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Christopher M. Whitman Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars Still relevant after 10+ yearsReviewed in the United States on 26 April 2012
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This book is of interview given by Chomsky after 9/11 about various aspects. He had a great opportunity after 9/11 to make an impact on the discourse and he did. Since Chomsky is a very fast researcher and writer, he was really able to get an alternative narrative out as soon as possible. He discusses the discourse of 9/11 and its impact on the world and the US. It is a short worthwhile book to pick up. If you like Chomsky, pick it up, rather straight forward.
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papey74
5.0 out of 5 stars Five StarsReviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 December 2016
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does what bought for
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Doug Becker
5.0 out of 5 stars Chomsky goes at it againReviewed in Canada on 20 April 2016
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Chomsky, (take him or leave him,) presents reasoning and rationale that can't be ignored.
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Christopher M. Whitman Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars Still relevant after 10+ years
Reviewed in the United States on 26 April 2012
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This book is of interview given by Chomsky after 9/11 about various aspects. He had a great opportunity after 9/11 to make an impact on the discourse and he did. Since Chomsky is a very fast researcher and writer, he was really able to get an alternative narrative out as soon as possible. He discusses the discourse of 9/11 and its impact on the world and the US. It is a short worthwhile book to pick up. If you like Chomsky, pick it up, rather straight forward.
6 people found this helpful
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martha maclean
5.0 out of 5 stars arrived on time , condition good , as advertised, no problems
Reviewed in Canada on 14 June 2020
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i should be so lucky with all my purchases ,arrived on time , condition good , as advertised, no problems, will buy from again
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P. Barbara
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 April 2017
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Item arrived on time and was as advertised
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Dr. Kola Olagboyega
5.0 out of 5 stars I love him and all his work - whether on theoretical ...
Reviewed in the United States on 22 December 2014
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I am a Chomskian. I love him and all his work - whether on theoretical linguistics or on politics. I now have twenty different books of his and I still can't have enough of them. Long live Noam Chomsky. I wish him a very long and healthy life. May God bless you.
2 people found this helpful
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papey74
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 December 2016
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does what bought for
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Doug Becker
5.0 out of 5 stars Chomsky goes at it again
Reviewed in Canada on 20 April 2016
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Chomsky, (take him or leave him,) presents reasoning and rationale that can't be ignored.
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Shane Morley
4.0 out of 5 stars Chomsky at his best: objective, level-headed and surprisingly positive.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 November 2018
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A short, yet impactful account of Chomsky's opinions of the events and politics leading up to and following the 9/11 attacks.
I found Chomsky's evaluation of the evidence (or lack thereof) personally linking bin Laden to the 9/11 plot particularly interesting. His point that the U.S. may have preferred to execute Osama rather than putting him on trial, due to a lack of compelling evidence that directly linked him to the 2001 attacks novel. Although, it's worth noting that Chomsky does stress that al-Qaeda was almost undoubtedly behind the atrocities. In this sense, Chomsky's analysis is a mix of his usual approach of all-around fact-based analysis, mixed with examples of American shortcomings/crimes and double-standards which inform Chomsky's theses and paint a much more rounded view of the non-binary reality of history/current-affairs.
As a negative, the majority of the book is printed in an interview style, question and answer type format. Meaning one, Chomsky tends to give short answers and two despite the editors best efforts the content of his answers is somewhat repetitive.
That said, this is an excellent brief overview of the key history surrounding 9/11 from an intellectual who aims for objectivity rather than mainstream popularity.
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John C. Landon
4.0 out of 5 stars Chomsky's confusion over 9/11
Reviewed in the United States on 6 January 2013
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This book is a puzzle, and it is hard to understand how Chomsky came to write it. After 9/11, within hours, a global group of critics and commentators began to question the official account. I recall reviewing a book here at Amazon on Sept 12, scratching my head: the Bin Laden gambit is phony. But the views of people like Chomsky on the left confused me for years, although my first instincts turned out to be right. It was clear from the start that something didn't add up. Chomsky's perspective, present in this book, is almost tailor-made to have opened the challenge to the crafted propaganda in effect from the start in the government and media. He is on the verge of seeing the real issue, but then turns around and demurs. Possibly it was too soon after the event to see what had happened. His book is all ready to go as an expose of the 9/11 conspiracy, and then a blank fire. Thus, he presents the correct background to the issue, such as the complicity of the US government in the creation of 'terrorists' and Bin Laden himself, but drifts off into a completely puzzling acceptance of the cover up. This pattern, we should note, has been present all along in Chomsky's refusal to consider the JFK assassination question, a tricky issue to be sure. To be fair, it took time for the skeptics to get their act together, and it was to be several years until figures like David Ray Griffin began to coordinate the evidence of covert conspiracy. Thierry Meyssan's The Big Lie came a year after 9/11, but didn't properly register with Americans. In fact, it was very hard to put the facts together, and it wasn't, perhaps, until the conclusive evidence that the Twin Towers couldn't have collapsed under the collision with jet planes that many were forced to go 'cold turkey' off the official story. The issue is important still if activists on the left defer to what seems now a false view. It sends a message that the perpetrators can get away with a real whopper. This book has frozen a whole generation of leftists into silence, or second string propaganda supporting a Budh, on 9/11. Whatever the case, after so many years, it is time for leftists to check out the real research here. The covert distortions of American democracy require seeing the reality of what happened on that eleventh day of September.
7 people found this helpful
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Cadet
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing
Reviewed in the United States on 29 October 2013
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Could not be better. The author express an objective reflection on the September 11 events. I goes deeper explaining the foolishness and obsession of the american administration for war without thinking of back effects of its policy.
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kevin michael hedley
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 November 2016
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Thought provoking.
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Amazon Customer
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 17 November 2015As all Chomsky books excellent
One person found this helpful
Bonita Migliore
Loved it
Reviewed in the United States on 9 January 2014If you like Chomsky, this one doesn't disappoint. Always wanted to know the scenario of 911 going on behind the Whits House doors. Great information, great insight.
3 people found this helpful
Petter Skagen
9-11 mysteries
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 May 2013Chomsky is brilliant in many ways. This book seems to have been written in a rush - it felt as if I had read it before -- somewhere else. I note that Chomsky ignores the important question that various truth seeking organizations and families of the victims still ask: why will the government not provide real, scientifically sound answers to the many questions that remain hanging in the air? The main stream media will not ask these questions, but Chomsky?
3 people found this helpful
laylicious
WHAT AN AMAZING LIL BOOK
Reviewed in the United States on 17 December 2014arrived quickly...WHAT AN AMAZING LIL BOOK!...Fact upon fact & very informative...of course! you can expect nothing less from the wonderful & intelligent Mr. Chomsky
M. Haj
I recommend it
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 February 2015Nice book
One person found this helpful
doris sadler-davis
a gift for my husband...
Reviewed in the United States on 30 June 2014this man is a national treasure whether you agree with him or not, you will be blown away with the facts.
5 people found this helpful
Jason L. Cole
Chomsky in Decline
Reviewed in the United States on 3 May 2013Over the years the good linguist has produced a tome of books with each becoming more and more predictably ostensible exercises of commercial counterculture. I believe Professor Chomsky was at his peak and very sincere when opposing the Vietnam war but has fallen into his own caricature of "America is always evil and I will find a way to describe it as such" that is presented by his neoconservative critics. He sticks to meticulous research and document dropping but divulges many almost conspiratorial explanations that border on the deus ex machina jeers from critics such as Dershowitz originating from "Planet Chomsky." Undoubtedly American foreign policy has played a role in the actions of jihadist but like Ron Paul (who Chomsky ultimately decimates in this book, contrary to the tepid broken clock being right twice a day sentiment he's demonstrated towards paleolibertarian nonintervention in some interviews respecting the misdirected outrage working class nationalists demonstrate towards an increasingly untrustworthy political system) leaves the perpetrators free from the scrutiny he administers to Washington. He evenhandedly criticizes the Obama administration for continuing many of the remnants of his predecessor, but its plausible Chomsky does this in order to generate more publicity for being an equal opportunity hater.
Its a good read and I'd suggest it if you feel the need to complete your collection of his mammoth bibliography. I just would not advise reccommending this as the book to introduce a curious newcomer to Noam Chomsky and his libertarian socialist critiques of globalized neoliberalism and the military-industrial complex. That would be better served by his book on Anarchism or "Making the Future."
Its a good read and I'd suggest it if you feel the need to complete your collection of his mammoth bibliography. I just would not advise reccommending this as the book to introduce a curious newcomer to Noam Chomsky and his libertarian socialist critiques of globalized neoliberalism and the military-industrial complex. That would be better served by his book on Anarchism or "Making the Future."
One person found this helpful
RLDP
So important I read it twice!
Reviewed in the United States on 30 October 2014Still very timely. I wish I had read it after 9/11 - it would have better informed my opinions. Chomsky raises uncomfortable and disturbing questions as they relate to all countries, including our own: When is someone a tyrant and when are they a freedom fighter? When is a nation a terrorist state and when is it promoting freedom and democracy? The answer is not so clear. The new intro written after the capture of bin Laden was very informative. Sometimes the interview format of the rest of the book prevented a fuller clarification of important history and issues; however, the questions raised served as good motivation for me to read and learn more. The message of the book is thought-provoking and controversial: the way to achieve lasting peace is through the law and judicial systems of the world, not the military systems.
8 people found this helpful
Bob
Good information concerning a view that is difficult to find ...
Reviewed in the United States on 23 December 2014Good information concerning a view that is difficult to find in the main media. I presently write for some in the media and would like to read more from Chomsky and others like him through their communication.
Not likely to happen!!
Not likely to happen!!
behrooz
Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 24 February 2018The Best, Most Eyeopening book I've ever read.
One person found this helpful
WAM
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 20 December 2016
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Of course there was!! Chomsky remains an intellectual powerhouse
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Phillis
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 1 February 2018
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Needed this for class
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J. McBrearty
1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
Reviewed in the United States on 5 March 2016
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Leftist BS. Skip it unless you're into junk philosophy.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 30 January 2017
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Everyone should read Chomsky.
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A
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on 11 July 2016
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As shown
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Megan A
5.0 out of 5 stars 5 stars
Reviewed in the United States on 9 January 2015
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Amazing!
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