Noam Chomsky's Take on "American Sniper"

[@danmorgan3685]

American Sniper strikes me as a modern western of sorts. The old westerns had this horrible take on Native Americans. They were portrayed as the instigators of violence, savage and hostile not because of any grievances but by their very nature.

[@universalmartialartscenter360]

That was their nature though.

[@danmorgan3685]

Universal Martial Arts Center Well, you're full of shit. Look up the history of the conquest of the Americas and you'll see the colonists were the actual aggressors.

[@danmorgan3685]

Universal Martial Arts Center Your original comment was loaded. Europeans were at least as "savage" and did everything you attribute to Native Americans. I love how you resort to the "your kind" bullshit so early. Makes me think you're just another brain dead right-wing troll. p.s. I checked your play lists. You have quit a bit from that smug piece of dead head shit Paul Joseph Watson. So, yeah, right-wing troll confirmed.

[@universalmartialartscenter360]

This was my original comment down to the last letter "That was their nature though" how is that loaded? Nothing there implies anything about anyone else other than them. Your stupidity showing. You were implying that it wasn't but it most likely was. And lol AGAIN your stupidity shows. Thinking that because you're some leftist you have an automatic step in intelligence above your opposition when clearly you're no different than the right whatsoever. Enjoy being stuck in your puppet show politics cretin.

[@danmorgan3685]

Universal Martial Arts Center Well, better than watching Hitler speeches about Jews. Oh, you thought I didn't check that one? Starting to regret putting those video lists together?

[@irishdc9523]

To those who condemn the Iraqis for killing US troops, ask yourself this. Would you react any differently if your country was invaded, occupied and a puppet regime was put in place?

[@galcomanwolf]

Then you're government shouldn't have invaded Kurdistan, Harbour international war criminals, and committed genocide against its own people.

[@Militante10A]

+Galco ManWolf The USA welcomed the genocidal Nazis, quasi exterminated the native populations, enslaved the blacks, and most USA presidents qualify for the title of war criminals.

[@irishdc9523]

Galco ManWolf The borders of modern Arab countries were drawn by the British and French empires.

[@galcomanwolf]

+Deaglan Cullen and now the caliphate wants to redraw them again

[@galcomanwolf]

+Mandingo Brown correct me if I'm wrong but I believe according to the Geneva Convention that there are four instances in which country has reneged on its sovereignty the first one is genocide Saddam Hussein committed genocide against the neighbouring country Kurdistan and the second one is that he Harbour international war criminals the third one is repeated aggression against neighbouring countries

[@RICHARDGRANNON]

American Sniper, Act of Valor, Zero Dark Thirty, Lone Survivor... Even Goebbels would blush. Go back to sleep America.

[@marinanononsense]

thank you for posting this !

[@RICHARDGRANNON]

The correct pejorative term for a Brit is "limey" not "lime".

[@RICHARDGRANNON]

No problemo big guy

[@RICHARDGRANNON]

Was it mate? Or was it Bravo Two Zero recast with American heroes word for word? Remarkable how these little goat herding boys (be they Iraqi or Afghani) KEEP bringing down Special Forces units 20 years on by leveraging their moral integrity.

[@poontang3zizo]

+SPARTANLIFECOACH To be fair Zero Dark Thirty (at least for me) wasn't a pro-war movie per say. It's actually quite neutral on the issues as far as I saw.

[@Samgurney88]

The audio quality is a little sketchy, so I've taken the liberty of transcribing it for those who might benefit: "Let me begin with something that may seem pretty far-afield: a film review in The New York Times a couple of days ago. It begins (I'll quote it) by ridiculing "America's coastal intelligenstia which busied itself with chatter over little seen art dramas, while everyday Americans showed up en masse for the patriotic, profoundly filmed picture which broke all attendance records in its opening days". At the end of this quite laudatory review the reviewer mentions that there was another film that opened the same time but with quite limited attendance, Selma which was timed for release with Martin Luther King Day. Well, what was the "patriotic, profoundly filmed [picture]" that so entranced "everyday Americans"? It's about the most deadly sniper in American history, [?] Chris Kyle, who claims to have used his skills to have killed several hundred people in Iraq. And he wrote memoires and in the memoires he describes what the experience was like, so I'll quote him. His first kill, he said, was a woman who walked into a street with a grenade in her hand as the marines attacked her village. He (Chris Kyle) killed her with a single shot and explains how he felt about it: "I hated the damn savages I'd been fighting. Savage, despicable evil - that's what we were fighting in Iraq. That's why a lot of people, myself included, called the enemy 'savages' - there was really no other way to describe what we encountered there." The film... I've read a lot of reviews, I haven't seen the film incidentally, but I've read reviews of it - they varied. The New Yorker thought it was great - they kept to the 'cinematic values' - it was well-done, nice photographs, and so on. There were others who found it apalling. One of them was Jeff Stein, he's a former US intelligence officer working in Vietnam, and he wrote a very critical review, keeping to the content. And he also recalled a visit that he made - an invited visit to a marine base, to a clubhouse for sinpers. And I'll quote him: "the bar room walls featured white on black Nazi SS insignia and other Werhmacht photos and regalia - the marine shooters clearly identified with the marksmen of the world's most infamous killing machine, rather than with regular troops." Well, going back to Chris Kyle: he regarded his first kill as a terrorist - this woman who walked into the street with a grenade when the marines were attacking her village. But we can't really attribute that to the mentality of a psychopathic killer because we're all tarred with the same brush, at least insofar as we tolerate or keep silent about official policy. And that mentality - and there's very little commentary about this incidentally, except for Amnesty International, ACLU, and so on - the mentality helps explain why it's so easy to ignore what is clearly the most extreme terrorist campaign of modern history, if not ever: Obama's global assassination campaign, the drone campaign, which officially is aimed at murdering people who are suspected of maybe someday planning to harm us. If that's what they're suspected of doing in the morning session with Brennan and so on, then we blow them away. And I really advise you to read some of the transcripts of the drone operators - they're hair-raising. The advisors who are sitting in front of computers in Las Vegas or somewhere... you can't repeat it. Obama, you may recall, when he won the Nobel Prize - he said 'make no mistake, evil does exist in the world'. And he's right... [in other words?] he knows exactly where to find it." Any corrections are welcomed. I'm not very technologically adept - if somebody could please use this for the basis of subtitling this video, I hope that would be appreciated by those who are hard of hearing, or without advanced or native English, or whatever else might make subtitles useful to them.

[@illiadmcswain3956]

excellent observations!👍

[@AlexpxThreeTen]

Or just turn captions on

[@giobronskij8249]

Thanks from all non native speakers

[@GBHForumNetwork]

Wow--thanks!

[@jacksonroykirk6968]

I'm sorry, but the "Obama was the worst of all" arguments are complete crap, and this one is no exception. For starters, you weren't present in the Oval Office for any of the meetings you talk about here, so even if we allow that the regular meetings took place and targets were selected, we can't examine the reasoning behind each strike, nor do we know how often they were ordered. The idea that Obama, who inherited Bush's wars, had a conciliatory approach to diplomacy, and opposed unnecessary military action, was in this one respect a hawkish fiend/terrorist is ridiculous. Bush Sr. and Jr. together killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians while pursuing made up wars, along with hundreds of thousands of soldiers drafted to fight against them as invaders. The shadow foreign policy of Reagan killed hundreds of thousands of Central American civilians, and his anti-Soviet Afghanistan venture propped up Osama bin Laden and planted the seeds for 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan. But you want to talk about Obama, who ordered some drone strikes to kill active terrorists, as if he could possibly be the worst of all--give me a f***ing break! You've obviously got a right-wing axe to grind, unlike Chomsky, who sees all US presidential administrations as equally immoral and dangerous.

[@Scot-Tube]

Chris Kyle was also a compulsive liar.

[@keepcalmandblametheblackgu9164]

Not to faux news.

[@tamtom1078]

@Worm Driver i hope there is at least bottomless dispair and contempt in your voice when you say that. I really do. But i don't dare ask

[@FahimAhmed-xj9lq]

And war criminal. The man took pleasure in his job, which was to snipe people.

[@emeliedenmodige2470]

must be somewhat symptomatic

[@spearfisherman308]

@mark d so was Ventura he was never in combat and was a udt not a seal

[@k4nc3r]

Stop aging, Chomsky. :\\ We don't have your replacement, and Gore Vidal is dead. C'mon, man.

[@JJG86]

k4nc3r I was thinking just the opposite

[@plainlogic]

Puke me a fucking river.

[@Beery1962]

People like JJ G and Plainlogic are pretty ignorant. They are the problem with America.

[@muslimmetalman]

@@Beery1962 Its who and what america is. sociopathic.

[@GreenGretel]

Gore Vidal was much more a creature of the establishment than Chomsky, but compared to the toadying "progressive" liberals of today, most of whom are too timid to criticize American empire in any meaningful way, he comes off relatively radical.

[@quintinphillips]

Obama "There is real evil in the world' Chomsky "He know where to find it'

[@FrostTrollzor]

The problem is that there's hundreds of right-wing conservatives, "left" (neo)liberals and generally entire mainstream political establishment in comparision to the very few people like Chomsky. People hate me for holding him in high regard and I know that he's not faultless, but at very least he's right on the spot on many issues concerning foreign policy, very factual and knows how to debate and answer complex questions. It will be a grim day when Noam passes away.

[@kendallevans4079]

@ClandestineOstrich Spot on! It's all about creating billionaires now....no one goes to college to become "educated and well rounded and erudite" It's about becoming the next Bezos or Gates or you name the billionaire.....that's out culture now...

[@plasticweapon]

i don't hate you for holding him in high regard, i just have contempt for you.

[@blindsheep6180]

Don't forget Seymour hersh, John Pilger. The great truth teller will soon be gone through old age & there's few if any to replace them

[@La-ld9mn]

@@plasticweaponPlease enumerate your passion

[@1mchartmann]

The film should be called American psychopath as that would be more fitting. Of course Americans in general are becoming more pathological in there thought processes.We now like to glorify people that in the past would have been seen as having questionable ethics.

[@Zettel9016]

Or no ethics at all.

[@raffffar4549]

Like who? It seems to me like the opposite; For example: in the past Patton was glorified, while now there’s a more critical view on him (he once said America should’ve invade the USSR rather than/after Germany; he was antisemite...)

[@mikemattis1204]

Right , we glorify people that help destroy murderous regimes. Maybe sit this one out you pathetic putz

[@jmikkonen3805]

Obama winning the Noble Prize is one of the biggest jokes I've ever witnessed. The whole institution lost it's value and respect right there and then.

[@Zettel9016]

Quite true. (If it ever had any, that is.)

[@darkwarlock123]

Henry Kissinger won a Nobel peace prize in 1973, before Obama. Kissinger was National Security Advisor for Nixon, who authorised the CIA to prevent the democratically elected Chilean president Allende from assuming power. Allende was killed in 1973 during the military coup Augusto Pinochet executed with support from the CIA. Kissinger also supported the genocidal West Pakistan government during the Bangladeshi Liberation War in 1971. Estimated 300,000 to 3,000,000 Bangladeshis killed and 200,000 to 400,000 women raped.

[@scottbilger9294]

I've always believed the Prize was awarded to the American people for electing him. Obama should have realized that and accepted on the nation's behalf and not his own.

[@mirsad96]

Gorbachev also won the Nobel peace prize after he betrayed his country int he cold war. The prize is a sign that you did something to help imperialism on its way to world domination.

[@harmonyjones8035]

Obama did win it before he earned it, but he did earn it. The Patient Protection and Affordable Healthcare Act earned it on its own, but also his diplomacy with Cuba and of course the Iran deal that Trump recently shat all over. So Obama did end up at least being worthy of consideration for the prize, but yes, he got it before he should have. I might google why they gave it to him. Might open my eyes a bit. Or I could just pretend I already know... Hmmm...

[@signifidelica2819]

That woman with a grenade was acting in self defense, and not only that but walking out against american troops with nothing but a grenade shows amazing courage. What a sociopath this sniper is.

[@onni5302]

You think that shows courage? That shows only desperacy.

[@xxcookiekingdomxx9007]

That doesn't show desperacy it shows inhumanity. I don't care how abused I am, I could be stuffed in a concentration camp or abducted by ISIS, I would get gassed or beheaded before I blow up my child up to save myself. I wouldn't dare put an explosive in my child's hand to blow up Nazis, I would just get gassed. Signifidelica, you are an absolute ingrate to declare that the sociopath is Kyle as opposed to that mother. But hey, what more do you expect from someone who prays to a pedophile and a war criminal 5 times a day. Obviously a woman who accepts a terrorist as a prophet is going to behave barbarically.

[@martinjugolin2087]

Why dont you join her then ;D? Serioulsy, yall who disrespect the american army are completyl welcomed to go to the middle east

[@SergyMilitaryRankings]

​@@martinjugolin2087 the American army is nothing but cowards and war criminals.

[@ShastraDugan]

@@martinjugolin2087 I will disrespect the military industrial complex thats for sure as for individual soldiers I guess it depends but a LOT of them deserve to be disrespected

[@cathalmacsiurdain7762]

I always thought snipers were dispised by ordinary soldiers because of the callousness of their actions. To celebrate one of these individuals as a hero means that we are all going insane.

[@re1010]

I dont think he's a hero. I mean, I believed he still had some good in him, because he was trying to help vets adjust. The biggest issue is the US trains/conditions these men to be killers. Then when it's all said and done, they're expected to adjust on their own. It why when we focus on this struggle, we need point out the powers at play who persuade us. The film doesn't do that. It sanitizes the situation, rather then going all in. But Hollywood's cowardice to both realistic violence, cynical views, and trying not to to piss off certain audiences can't afford to make films like Come and See. It's too much of a risk.

[@benkline8580]

He did kill a lot of people that were trying to kill "ordinary soldiers". I'm sure they didn't mind the callousness of those actions. Saving comrade lives matters in war no matter what side you're on.

[@CrniWuk]

@@re1010 >>I mean, I believed he still had some good in him, because he was trying to help vets adjust.

[@re1010]

@@CrniWuk exactly what I'm saying. He is sanitized because they fail to live out the ngative stuff about him, and it sanitize the situation by not showing the various reasons how this came to be.

[@leonardopatrizio]

Ordinary soldiers for the USA are trash and its funny when they can't return home.

[@northernbohemian]

WBGH? Seriously? This audio equals that of of a seventh grade A/V assistant in 1973.

[@GBHForumNetwork]

Agreed....thanks for the input. Forum Network is always working on new partnerships in new venues not necessarily wired for shooting video, and we travel pretty light. We've already had a talk with these guys about improving the audio quality for the next shoot...but we are glad to have your comment to back up our argument for keeping the bar high.

[@YawnGod]

WGBHForum Bahahahaha! I am entertained.

[@Morbius1963]

***** You're a substance yourself.

[@Morbius1963]

Those who are unnecessarily abusive in the comment section make me think of an altogether different substance.

[@uhuhuuuhhh9883]

***** but not a Zionist .

[@Ratama]

that mic is just rubbish.

[@cassandrajoiner9933]

If you notice a lot of his videos have bad audio it's done on purpose.

[@kuwinsitall]

here's a fun thing I do.....ask a conservative if they like the film "Red Dawn". they always say yes and fantasize about protecting Merica. ask them if the Iraqis are any different then the Wolverines in the film. they are always flummoxed

[@mattbritzius570]

That's a fun a fictional story you've told. You've never done that in real life.

[@ericreingardt2504]

They'll make the argument in red dawn the wolverines fought an authoritarian government which is also what they saw in Iraq

[@codyvandal2860]

Killing communists is good - killing Americans is not. If any part if that is unclear to you then you are likely a traitor aka a liberal. The cancer that weakens and kills the body politic.

[@The_ScapeGoat]

Most conservatives i know are anti interventionist. Most Americans I know are against interventionism. Your complaining about "conservatives" as if they are not far more intellectually diverse than left wing oikophobes shows that you're more interested in demonizing people than taking to them. Mind your shitty bigotry, fool.

[@tonywords6713]

Milius was basically a soft anarcho-fascist. One of the issues I have with Taylor Sheridans stuff is how it basically does the same thing but subtler

[@EyEofOblivic]

You have him mic'd with a lapel.... what the hell was your audio guy doing?! I can barely hear the man and it really upsets me.

[@CalebBlock]

why does every Noam Chompsky clip have godawful audio?

[@oldi184]

+Caleb Block Yeah i wonder the same thing. I have watched many many dozens of videos with him on many channels. Audio is poor, sometimes really bad even in quite new videos from year 2010+. One of the possible answer is that it is a intentional effect just to suppress the info he is talking about. He is talking the truth. The truth is the enemy of the government. Tentacles of CIA and NSA are reaching far and wide. KZbin is obviously in their reach.

[@MegaCocacolafan]

Probably more to do with amateurs and media outlets with very little funding speaking with him. Personally I haven't had any issue listening to his speeches on youtube.

[@22kataking]

a clear sign from God

[@charlierose7153]

His powerful aura damages the recording equipment

[@tonywords6713]

@@22kataking you mean the state?

[@paulconnelly4050]

200 civilians killed by a US airstrike in Mosul, Iraq. That's what you called civilised as opposed to savage.

[@secondthought2320]

The woman was a citizen and you call her a terrorist, but look at who invaded their country without true warrant to occupy by killing them!

[@GabGotti3]

I remember when this movie hit the theaters and I was like “what is everyone so happy about?”

[@joematthew495]

If you think the way Chris Kyle was portrayed in American Sniper was good, wait til you see the way Daniel Bruhl portrayed him in Inglorious Basterds.

[@DontDrinkthatstuff]

Inglorious Basterds is just more Hollywood small hat propaganda.

[@wagilini9723]

@@DontDrinkthatstuff What was propagandistic about Inglorious Basterds?

[@S.D.323]

​@@wagilini9723he's probably upset because he's anti anti nazi if you know what I mean

[@stevenhalliday7297]

Obama winning the Nobel peace prize is like Ed Gein winning a prize for his sewing.

[@Zettel9016]

Nice. Real Nice. I saw what you did there. : )

[@maximinus5151]

Haha

[@savant7288]

Ed gein? The guy who made a dress out oh his victim's skins?

[@t00bgazer]

You should look up why alfred nobel created the peace prize. Its always been a joke.

[@ImmanuelSaves]

........ur a worm

[@solarmanhawaii]

What's so sad about all this, is that there are so many suffering with having to deal with their, " cognitive dissonance ".

[@thesensiblesocialist]

This is why I laugh when conservatives talk about hollywood like it's some kind of far-leftist hive.

[@jewulo]

It is just psychological deflection. They know that it is not. It is just a way of deflecting the evidence of Hollywood's propagandistic nature.

[@kangaroo3708]

Woke thats the new word Woke woke woke Everything’s woke As if that means anything

[@nicholasdedless4881]

Regarding the drone campaign I highly recommend the book: Kill Chain: Drones and the Rise of High-Tech Assassins by Andrew Cockburn. The details of the drone program are incredible. Its amazing that it virtually never is even discussed in the main stream US press. The idea that there is all this oversight and care about not killing civilians is shown to be total BS. And what has kept the drone program going is more bureacratic power struggles rather than any serious long term strategy to fight terrorism.

[@deshaunwhitfield4980]

It was discussed until the presidential election in 2008. Then for some weird reason most people in the mainstream stopped talking about it even though it intensified.

[@nicholasdedless4881]

I think one reason its not discussed much is because a democrat is in the white house and its essentially something controlled by the executive branch. The Republicans have never met a form of making war that they don't like so they won't protest. And a lot of liberals don't look at it as critically as if it were being done by a Republican.

[@rlyshw]

Could they post the full video without that cut at 3:33? I would like to know what he says about 'official policy'.

[@MrFredSed]

What I thought was absoutely effing shocking is that the film portrayed Kyle as willing to pull the trigger upon a kid barely able to lift the RPG he'd picked up. Wouldn't a warning shot into the wall have terrified the kid into dropping the weapon?

[@re1010]

I wont judge soldiers by the heat of battle. I judge them by what turned them to a soldier: civilian life.

[@gordonadams5891]

The America I grew up in didn't glorify people for hiding behind a wall, rock or tree and killing someone a mile away.

[@LMcAwesome]

Wow. Very powerful critique. Even if you do not agree it is an argument worth hearing. Democracies thrive on a robust opposition and Chomsky definitely provides this. It will be a shame when he is gone because few people can match his integrity and insightful critique.

[@LeetMoteef]

too bad someone didn't know how to properly mic him

[@kwijung]

Is the full talk available anywhere online?

[@maxwell10206]

You can't ruin audio when interviewing an amazing man like Noam Chomsky. These guy's need to take their job a little more seriously.

[@Beery1962]

Can you please boost the volume on this? I can't hear a word. Honestly, don't people check this when they upload a video?

[@georgesk2]

the sound guy on this should get an Oscar. Great capture of Noam Chomsky

[@sher53sher]

I wish the audio was better on this. It is very difficult to understand what Dr. Chomsky is saying, even with volume up all the way.

[@SuperTonyony]

If the marines of another nation were invading my town, I’d be very proud of a woman who picked up a grenade to fight them. She wasn’t a “savage”, Chris Kyle--she was a hero.

[@jeremyreagan9085]

As always Dr. Chomsky is spot on our evil is all that matters not others. I will suppot his work until i am dead.

[@catpyjamas]

Just as he murdered, he was murdered. But I think there will be a difference in the final destination between those he killed and himself.

[@YuThinkUrCool]

whya re most chomsky videos with such bad audio? does no one want him to be heard or..

[@wesbervig1054]

Chris Kyle is an American patriot, just like Timothy McVeigh and Oliver North are patriots, right?

[@Mclfarm2]

Where can you find the transcripts he mentions towards the end?

[@yechielgordon6847]

This is possibly the best five minutes of WGBH material I've heard or seen in the last fifteen years. Chomsky lives and works just up the road from WGBH. Why don't they ever interview him?

[@28_gauge]

Because he has been saying the same old thing for decades....the US is a terrible, overbearing country....isn't it awful, isn't it awful. Give it a rest, Prof. Chomsky.

[@yechielgordon6847]

Hi Brian, I have been following Chomsky for about twenty years. I have never heard him say the things you mention here. Would you be kind enough to provide references? Mass murderers like Ronald Reagan and George Bush and Barack Obama keep saying the same old thing for decades, yet WGBH covers them on a regular basis. The Arthur cartoon and many WGBH news shows also say the same kinds of things over and over; of course, Chomsky is telling the truth, while many WGBH guests are lying. Repetitiveness, therefore, cannot be the relevant criterion. What is your theory, then, as to why these people, who repeat themselves and others constantly, are invited day after day, and year after year onto WGBH?

[@28_gauge]

Yechiel Gordon Mr Gordon, I am curious as to why you think Reagan, Bush and Obama are mass murderers. One quote that I will paraphrase from Prof. Chomsky is that Reagan virtually destroyed Central America. Really? That is a gross exageration to say the least. Prof. Chomsky seems to be opposed to any US involvement outside it's borders. He started with Vietnam and moved on from there. The only conflict that I have not seen him comment on was the US/UN involvement in Bosnia. He may have made some comments, but I have not seen them.

[@yechielgordon6847]

Brian, I think a better question would be: How could one not regard Reagan, Bush and Obama as mass murderers? We know that the Reagan Administration supported and aided the death squad governments of El Salvador, and Guatemala and overall killed about 500,000 people in Central America. Reagan armed the terrorist Contras. Reagan helped create the Taliban, as well. Reagan worked closely with the apartheid regime in South Africa, providing it with whatever support he could. A full listing of his crimes would require volumes. For an introduction, see Chomsky and Herman: The Washington Connection and Third World Fascism George Bush's most notable war crime is, of course, the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Prior to this crowning crime, Bush completed what the Clinton Administration had started by starving Iraq: The bipartisan embargo starved about 850,000 children to death. Because the US does not allow proper body counts of its victims, we do not know the exact numbers; with regard to the invasion of Iraq; best estimates have more than a million people dying as a result.Bush's crimes extend, of course, well beyond this single crime. Nazis were hung at Nuremberg for less. As for Barack Obama, we have a man who carried out a bombing the day he received the Nobel Peace Prize. (See Jeremy Schahill for that story.) Obama continues to utilize drone strikes that kill civilians on a regular basis. Obama has so far bombed Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Yemen, Somalia, Iraq and Syria. See CNN: Countries Bombed by the US Under the Obama Administration, September 23, 2014. Where Bush kidnapped people he didn't like, Obama simply has them assassinated. This, of course, is a violation of international law. Obama orders such summary executions or assassinations on a regular basis. He therefore qualifies as a murderer here, as well. You are correct that Chomsky does oppose US violation of international law and terror operations outside its borders.He opposed the American invasion of Vietnam, the American invasion of Cambodia, the US invasion of Laos, and the many US invasions and bombing of sovereign nations since then. By the way, and with perfect consistency, Chomsky wrote and commented extensively on Bosnia, as well. I reproduce for you a small portion of one interview with Democracy Now below: DM : Now, Amnesty International, among others, reported that "NATO committed serious violations of the rules of war during it's campaign", numerous human rights groups concur and document various war crimes. One of them had its anniversary two days ago, when the Radio Television Serbia was bombed, the national television, its headquarters, killing 16 people. First of all, why were these crimes completely unreported, and secondly, is there any prospects for there being any responsibility taken for these crimes? NC: I'd say the crimes were reported but they were cheered. It's not that they were unknown, like the bombing of the radio station, yes, it was reported and the TV station, but it's fine. Because the TV station was described as a propaganda outlet, so therefore it was right to bomb. That happens all the time. It just happened last year, in November 2004. One of the worst war crimes in Iraq... DM: Al Jazeera ... NC: ... was invasion of Falluja. Al Jazeera's one thing, but there was worse. The invasion of Falluja was kind of similar to Srebrenica, if you look, but ... They invaded Falluja; the first thing the invading troops did, U.S. troops, was to take over the general hospital and throw the patients on the floor, they were taken out their beds, put on the floor, hands tied on their backs, doctors thrown on the floor, hands on their backs, it was a picture of it in the front page of the The New York Times, they said it was wonderful. DM: The Geneva Convention forbids hospitals to be... NC: It's a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and George Bush should be facing the death penalty for that, even under the U.S. law. But it was presented, no mention of the Geneva Conventions, and it was presented as a wonderful thing, because the Falluja general hospital was a "propaganda center," namely it was releasing casualty figures, so therefore it was correct to carry out a massive war crime. Well, the bombing of the TV station was presented the same way. In fact, as I'm sure you recall, there was an offer from NATO that they would not bomb if they agreed to broadcast six hours of NATO propaganda. Well, this is considered quite right.

[@28_gauge]

Yechiel Gordon Mr Gordon, You have made some very good points. Would it be safe to say that Prof. Chomsky is an isolationist? He prefers the fight to come to his shores? It is better to fight the enemy or the perceived enemy on his shores rather than yours? As we all know, world history is rife with nations conquering nations, peoples conquering peoples. Wars involve killing people, it is a blunt fact. War is war and the describing of the deaths as war crimes is just a matter of unpleasant semantics. Boiled down to the simple facts, war criminals are on the losing side and war heroes are on the winning side. My problem with Prof. Chomsky is that his mind seems firmly ensconced in some sort of human utopia that doesn't exist nor will it ever.

[@CrimeaRiver]

What is it with Chomsky videos and poor audio quality??

[@upsty6499]

Let's understand what is being said here with absolute clarity, the most poignant point of what Noam is expressing should be evident, most people agree with what is being said here...it's obvious to all those who see.

[@DocRock1007]

Are you serious? He admits he's not seen the movie!!

[@ermias01]

Voice of reason. It was good to hear man of spendable reason like this man talk. I will never see that move - it's an insult to human dignity.

[@whogivesafuckzappsiskinggu8885]

Brilliant man a must listen

[@spearfisherman308]

more like an overrated hippy who is out of touch with reality.

[@GebreMMII]

Wut, Ethiopian atheist?

[@atomicdruid]

WBGH should be ashamed of the audio. I have all possible volumes up all the way and I still can't hear what the old man is saying.

[@joanparsons63]

Whats up chris. Me and sean are at holiday inn. Call us 619-715-7291

[@kharnakcrux2650]

let's hear noam chomsky talk through waxpaper

[@A_friend_of_Aristotle]

Instead of out his ass? Sorry, out of his ass is ALL Chomsky has ever talked out of...LOL!

[@SherifEH]

@@A_friend_of_Aristotle Noam Chomsky has forgotten more about world affairs than you will ever know...LOL!

[@skeletonjam]

good job putting a mic on his jumper i can clearly hear what he is saying

[@NobuhikuObayashi]

Go read drone operator transcripts

[@mathiasbartl9393]

You train people to be serial killers, and then you complain when they talk like serial killers.

[@jjkent4551]

I wouldn't ask an 86 year old on current events, I'd ask him about the good old days instead.

[@jp574]

“I’ve never seen the film, but I’m Noam Chomsky, so I won’t let that prevent me from having an expert opinion on it. I am, after all, a linguist.”

[@M76Q5]

I cannot understand this. The sound is terrible.

[@Mirandorl]

What does he suggest as a solution? I know he says "activism", but every time I see a Chomsky video I come away feeling defeated and depressed. He is like a master diagnostician - adept at defining and describing the illness in ways no one else can. You watch and think "Yes! this man understands!". But what's his cure? Why is the illness getting worse and worse? Comment sections are full of agreement, yet resignation. Places to vent, then go and do something else. We know governments do not tolerate activism. BBC panorama even gave us an account of the branch of police whose job it is to infiltrate and destroy activist groups who begin to gain influence. Sure, he's offered many recommendations, unheeded ones to governments that everyday people cannot affect. So for the every day person, when you ask what is the cure, Chomsky states "activism". The diagnostician suggests: "Treatment, even if it kills the subject". It discourages, even as it validates the anger everyone feels. Genuinely interested to know more. What steps and effects have his work have had on governments? How he is regarded by the politicians he attacks, how do they respond? What action do people take on his words - beyond arguing on the internet?

[@wildreams]

+Mirandorl Vote for Bernie.

[@xavierlordofdarkness6953]

+wildreams You damn right! But i can't vote since i'm not american...

[@riccardo9383]

+Xavier LordofDarkness You want to vote in US elections while many americans don't even meet their own responsibilities. Voting is mandatory here in Brazil, i can't see how a democracy is supposed to function if people don't participate and are living in a world of propaganda and diversion.

[@wildreams]

Get involved with Our Revolution movement by Bernie Sanders. Be informed, and be ready to vote again next election cycle, make sure to get the proper documentation sorted out for the primaries as well so we don't get fucked over by the establishment DNC again. Also vote for your state's senators and congressmen.

[@wildreams]

Jay Paul Name someone better.

[@BaronVonGordon]

Is there a transcript available of the interview?

[@Camcolito]

'Pro-Family Picture' - Lmao, Orwellian stuff.

[@remadaniel]

In addition to what Northern Bohemian stated about the audio, the automatic closed captioning for this has got to be more than 90% inaccurate.

[@the1onlynoob]

If the audience did not take it so seriously, it could easily be taken as satire.

[@nyccolm]

This man’s voice will be sorely missed when he is gone. Here’s to a long life for Noam Chomsky!!!

[@UserName-ii1ce]

With respect to Chomsky, this is a Monday morning quarterback's analysis of a man who was in living hell. Chris Kyle fought people who wanted to dominate others via religious doctrine, people who would, on a good day, mutilate dissidents for following different beliefs. To read Kyle's memoir in this contextual vacuum and assess his character from the perspective of a lifelong academic is absurd.

[@NubiansNapata]

Sure..kyle cared so much about the Iraqi people 🥱🥱

[@re1010]

The problem is, Kyle was not silent about his Chstianity. And there's nothing wrong with that, we all have our reasons. But Kyle pretty much was the American that ISIS feared: a proud Christian who came here "save" them. He believed their religion was savage and even had references to the crusades tattooed on him. It becomes extremely disconcerting when a man is trying to be the modern Crusade, which were campaigns of state terrorism and extermination based on Christianity superiority, and then it's brushed under the rug. Not all US soldiers are like this, but we probably shouldnt sanitize it. If you want a better version, chose someone else.

[@Manofpeasable]

And the "Best Actor" goes to... the rubber baby from the crib!

[@erwin643]

LOL!!!!!!!1

[@GlassesAndCoffeeMugs]

You can always trust Chomsky to deliver the correct take that deep down everyone knows is right but nobody wants to say.

[@jimmybernasconi9000]

Nothing better than listening to an old man's take on a movie he hasn't seen

[@rollotwomassey]

Wait.....what? He didn't LOVE it?!?! I am scandalized...

[@ThawedTroglodyteJury]

This makes me sad. I know Chomsky probably read these reviews and book excerpts faster than it would have taken to watch the movie, however this is embarrassing for me to watch such a diligent scholar and personal hero of mine reduce himself to a culture-war pundit, basically parroting what every other neoliberal has said about this media hyped duality of 'American Sniper' vs. 'Selma' - who also didn't bother to actually watch the movie. For the record, it is another of Eastwood's anti-war and anti-violence films that is far more interested in showing the psychological consequences of warfare that any rah-rah false patriotism. True, it is artistically crippled from being based on the memoir of a lying psychotic scumbag, Chris Kyle. However, reading Kyle's words to criticize the film is on the same level of intellectual dishonestly as reading passages of _Mein Kampf_ to disparage Leni Riefenstahl's 'Olympia'. And to combine the two pretending they are one and the same is more nefarious propaganda than anything within the film.

[@63Hash]

A better anti war movie, would feature an iraqi doomed to die fighting impossible odds just to save a patch of earth held by his family by generations. 4 years later.... A better anti war movie would be about the last 5 or more US Presidents and how identical they all are when it comes to maintaining the US Empire

[@tonywords6713]

love your username

[@pjamesbda]

No mention is ever made in re-counting the murder of the woman with the hand grenade, that her community was under assault. She was a mother, with a baby in her arm as well. I wonder how an American mother under similar circumstances would react?

[@mic7able]

Well, that's my insomnia cured.

[@susannegramlich6754]

I felt like this movie will someday be cited as the Bible for a domestic serial sniper along with visual instruction, time will tell we are a vile country at times.

[@ThePowersThatBeef]

Noam Chomsky's Take? He hasn't seen it!

[@tahaeffendi3931]

So Chris Kyle's record of 250+ kills, mostly of unarmed women and children of the country that his comrades invaded, made him the deadliest sniper and greatest national hero? Wow!

[@windows8blowz]

Will they ever make a movie about Juba? he killed 668 Marines.

[@normanlast_name5546]

Wikipedia says he claims 37. 668 would put him ahead of even the great Russian and Finnish snipers of WW2, who were literally the deadliest snipers in history. There's literally no way he could have anywhere near that many. The "Iraq War" was hardly a war in comparison to WW2. Even if he was literally 10x better than any other sniper in history (which is isn't) he simply wouldn't have had the combat exposure to kill that many people. Soldiers fighting inn Iraq might on occasion find themselves in a firefight with a few dozen others. During WW2 on the Eastern front, however, there would literally be millions of soldiers converging on a single city for months on end. The scale was completely different.

[@asahmed1980]

It's Cowboys and Indians... I mean Americans and Iraqis...

[@WWVND]

Not fair. The description of the "Marine bar with white on black SS logo"... is out of context. It is not a Nazi symbol, and it is NOT racially motivated. My BLACK gunnery sergeant had the SS tattooed on his chest, many do. It stands for "Scout Sniper". Telling the Marine snipers not to use it would be like telling the Buddhists to stop using the swastika as a symbol of peace.

[@princejellyfish3945]

I don't think he was implying hatred with that example but more the sniper's wish to embody the aptitude of the nazi soldiers

[@JohnnyYuma405]

Eric East I've been to several Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayas and I've never seen a swastika.

[@Toxodos]

dude. 2.bp.blogspot.com/-nWbtLulubWI/U6D7yInsmYI/AAAAAAAAEpo/VI-fTcRPL10/s1600/6.jpg It's literally the SS logo. To compare it to buddhists who had the swastika waaay before the nazis, *that's* unfair Here's a bit of writing on why it's problematic: historyandcurrentcontext.blogspot.com/2012/02/ss-logo-used-by-marine-corps-scout.html

[@gordonadams5891]

There was a time when this sort of "back shooting" was looked down on in America.

[@jasonwhistle]

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!!!!!!! I love Noam Chomsky! WHY CANT ***ANYONE**** PLEASE attach a damn mike to this guy or at least do a damn sound check? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ON KZbin IS AUDIBLE!!!!!! F!!!!!!!!!

[@boogiecakes5467]

Master Chomsky has a lavalier mic and the audio is not even being synced with the video in post. Would be nice to have good audio. thanks for uploading

[@padredemishijos12]

Noam Chomsky is a saintly man. I hope that Pope Francis makes him a saint one day.

[@racketti]

+Tahuan Tinsuyo I hope the Flying Spaghetti Monster makes him a holy meatball one day.

[@padredemishijos12]

Timo Manunen Imbecile.

[@racketti]

+Tahuan Tinsuyo To declare him a saint Chomsky would have to perform a miracle which by definition is the suspension of natural laws. Also it would seem that the Catholic church considers Jesus to be the last jew to perform miracles. So yeah, I'm the imbecile. Have a nice day!

[@padredemishijos12]

Timo Manunen Thank you for your honesty.

[@racketti]

+Tahuan Tinsuyo And I appreciate your sentiment towards Chomsky. We kept this civilized!

[@josephlee4337]

What can one say about Noam Chomsky? A great thinker and a decent human being.

[@majorramsey3k]

Wait a minute... he hasn't seen the movie but is commenting on it?

[@MC-ip8gb]

He is a wankers.

[@TnRinVegas]

He does have a point that he may have a mentality of psychopathic killer. Did any of you actually read his book? He claims that killed dozens of looters in New Orleans during Katrina. Ok let's assume that this is true. Then that would make him a murderer. The penalty for looting is not death by sniper. And if it's false, the guy is sick in the head and a liar.

[@kyleh3693]

He didn't watch the film just basing ideas on reviews

[@normanno8514]

just like you dont actually have to eat a turd to know it isnt going to taste very good

[@conors4430]

And the personal testimony of the sniper himself

[@qanononabong8491]

I guess a cup and string served as a microphone here.

[@baldrickization]

He didn't watch the film so his argument is invalid. I saw the film and all I took from it was that war is a horrible screwed up mess and it ruins the lives and the lives of the families of everyone involved and ultimately kills you one way or the other. If you think its a glorification of war then your sense of glory is pretty screwed up when you see some of the awful stuff that happens in it. The book may be the memoirs of a psychopathic killer who loves killing but I found the film to be very anti war. The only way someone would think it was good old yankee propaganda would be if they hadn't seen it.

[@conors4430]

He didn't talk about his opinion of the movie , he spoke about reviews he had seen from different sources and spoke about the recorded memoirs by Chris Kyle directly, surely what the man wrote down is more important than what was in the movie, and from his own words he loved killing the savages , it doesn't take a genius to realise that this is not a full representation of him in the movie, Hell in the trailer for the movie it makes out as if he is some humanitarian that was torn up about what he was doing

[@Mr_Wallet]

conor smith "surely what the man wrote down is more important than what was in the movie" If we're talking about the movie, then no, that has zero relevance at all. This wasn't a documentary, it was a drama. Think of it this way: it was not presented as being as accurate to true events as _reality TV_ is. Really think about that. I am staring at all of these comments in utter astonishment. Clint Eastwood is a brilliant filmmaker who made a compelling story steeped in moral ambiguity without hitting you over the head with it. Personally I would consider this required viewing for any film buff as a prime example of how to make a compelling _protagonist_ who isn't necessarily a _hero._ You are effectively encouraged to empathize with a character that you might genuinely still not approve of - even disregarding whoever it was based on - which is exactly what a movie like this ought to do. Unfortunately people are just going to see what they want to see, or worse: judge something they didn't bother to see. The worst part of this film is that people had to know it was based on a real person at all so that they could bring all their biases with them to their decisions of whether to see the film and how to interpret it. If only it could have been passed off as a total fiction, I think a large portion of the Left would have seen and loved the film. In general, anyone who watches any big-budget movie based on real people or events expecting it to be accurate in any way more than broad strokes is an idiot. The film is more of an examination than a statement, and if there's any clear message, that message is about the toll that war takes on human lives. I think any liberties Eastwood took with Kyle's character were done to make it a genuinely superior film, and I have difficulty finding fault with him for that.

[@doublestrokeroll]

that's because the movie is a whitewash of this guy's life. THAT IS PROPAGANDA. And your comment shows that it works perfectly. You're obviously a sucker for it.

[@baldrickization]

doublestrokeroll Hahaha oh no! Im just a brainwashed sheeple! Please enlighten me and bring me out of the darkness! Of course they've white washed it, its a movie for gods sake, they need to make money, if they showed the horrors of war how they really were, people would be either traumatised by it or wouldn't come to see it at all, my argument is, is against people saying the film glorified him and unquestionably backed the war in Iraq when it clearly didn't, from what I saw it portrayed war as a god awful mess that ruins the lives of everyone it doesn't kill, now if thats propaganda then who is it serving?

[@Mr_Wallet]

doublestrokeroll Yeah my opinion of him doesn't matter anyway. I could think he was the second coming of Jesus and I don't see how that would have an impact on anyone's life since the dude's dead now anyway. It's not like I can vote him into office or something.

[@yogicseeds]

Can sound be fixed?

[@GBHForumNetwork]

Kathe Forrest Afraid not, in this case--a tough place to record a very quite speaker.

[@johnsmith-bx3qd]

Chomsky sounds intelligent because he has mastered the language - but in practicality this man would be disastrous if placed into a life or death situation where real world ACTIONS - not words -- are king. It's easy to sit comfortably behind a desk at MIT and bitch.

[@naal6109]

+john smith ... Probably, considering he's 85+ years old. I think you've missed the point. The ability to make decisions on a battlefield doesn't qualify someone as having good moral judgment. Oftentimes, the person on the battlefield is there because they work for people who have no moral judgment.

[@guydreamr]

Na Al: Absolutely brilliant.

[@johnsmith-bx3qd]

guydreamr Brilliant? It doesn't take much to impress you apparently. I'm not arguing about Noam Chomsky's moral judgement - he's probably a good man. I've never met him but he seems like he tries to think and behave ethically. I'm just saying that the world isn't black and white. It's black, white, and every shade of grey in between. These ideas look wonderful on the page - but in practically they only work on old episodes of Star Trek - and even there they seems corny. The Greeks were great thinkers and artist but their society was crushed by barbarians. It's easy to sit behind a desk and bitch about the military. It doesn't necessarily mean you are smarter and correct simply because you claim the moral high ground. It's almost a sense of religious moral entitlement - without the religion. Morality doesn't equal good judgement necessarily.

[@compteprivefr]

+john smith Going into Iraq and unleashing monsters like Chris Kyle on the general population was not good judgment. In fact Bush etc were repeatedly warned that what they were about to do would lead to disaster and put everyone more at risk of terrorism. They were right, it's because of our invasion of Iraq that Al-Qaeda suddenly expanded into that country, it's because of our invasion that an offshoot of Al-qaeda morphed into ISIS (Even Bush admits this and has publicly said that the rise of ISIS is his only regret about the whole thing) and it's because of that invasion which led to ISIS that my friend Sascha was killed by ISIS in Brussels. What's grey about that? It's pretty black and white and clear cut except that for Sascha now, (and so many more) it's all black now.

[@johnsmith-bx3qd]

Compte Prive I'm sorry about your friend. I had a friend killed also by those maniacs. The reality is though Bush didn't kill your friend, ISIS did. It's like you're allowing ISIS "an excuse" for their crazy religious beliefs. I'm sorry, but religious extremism has been around for centuries. ISIS is not the threat Saddam was. The WORLD depends on oil. FAR MORE lives would be lost if suddenly the flow of oil in the Middle East came to a screeching halt. ISIS isn't going to shut down the Straight of Hormuz -- Saddam could of done that. It's like comparing a bee sting to a Grizzly. Yeah - it sucks getting stung by a bee, and yes some people will even die from a bee sting -- but who would you rather be locked in a room with, a angry bee or a grizzly?

[@troycaldwell5711]

Chris Kyle is not an American hero. Just read a small portion of that self glorifying book.

[@jpreyes1028]

The biggest socialist ever to be "celebrated" in american history. The biggest "black eye" to great educational institutions. (I'm talking to you M.I.T.)

[@PantMal]

Why does every Noam Chomsky video have to have terrible audio?

[@omnaysayer]

the volume is so low. is there a transcript?

[@GBHForumNetwork]

Hi Joaquim. We didn't have the option to generate a transcript when we loaded this, but it's a good idea. Thanks for your patience here. We'll get that added right away.

[@None0fYourBusiness]

I don't understand why KZbin channels don't enhance the audio when uploading videos of Chomsky speaking.

[@Jopeal]

The idea that "evil" can be defeated via violence is ignorant.

[@toolazy2thinkofname]

Am I the only one having trouble with the audio? especially at the beginning?

[@lgreenberg20]

HE DIDNT EVEN SEE THE MOVIE. what the hell do people still listen to this guy for

[@tcalomfirescu]

One of the most entertaining things about KZbin is reading the exchanges and comments--often they are better than the vid. What fascinates me most is how obvious it is when people are being facetious, tongue in cheek, parodying and just plain loud, hammer over the head trolling, yet people, who consider themselves intelligent, are completely oblivious to it. Note the exchanges below between Lily and John and Casey and Turtle. Wow. Just fascinating.

[@craighorton8339]

Due process? Even American citizens don't get "due process."

[@markknight8695]

You do realise the book was a commercial product, crafted word by word to sell copies to its target demographic, and not in fact a verbatim copy of the events blow by blow. You know what happens when we take events written in a book as the one truth and the only truth.. If people are suggesting this film glorified war in a way comparable to the war poets or other propaganda, well, I think those people have quite a limited capacity for communication.

[@mikehattan]

Can't we PLEASE just stick to commenting on the video instead of ourselves ?

[@steveN111333]

sound quality terrible

[@hotelcampina]

Gwyn Williams Something has changed. In Studs Terkel´s The Good War (WW2), he relates that John Wayne, who served making traing films in Holliwood, walked onto the stage in a visit to US soldier in the Pacific, dressed in cowboy uniform with pearl handled 6 guns at the hip, The assembled GIs whistled and booed him off the stage. Like Wayne, Clint Eastwood makes patriotic films, such as the one depicting US marines invading Greneda to prevent the building of a soviet airbase and rescue US medical students who didn´t want to be rescued. A few weeks before that invasion, I attended a party at said "soviet base" given by the cuban, british and italian construction workers employed there. We drank cold beer and ate rice and beans and danced to reggae music, with not a soviet missile or MIG fighter to be seen. Why, I wonder, does he not include in these movies about US heroism and military might, an explanation as to what it is that justifies the policy. In Iraq, it has been repeatedly demonstrated that the reasons given for going to war there were lies, which leaves only the corporate dictatorship´s lust for control of the oil reserves. If that is true, why does he not say so: that might give a different slant to the morality of sending psycopaths to kill natives of the country, who might object to the invasion, using high velocity weapons fired from well camouflaged hides.