Noam Chomsky: Is Edward J. Snowden Aboard This Plane?

[marmar]

Is Edward J. Snowden Aboard This Plane?

Thursday, 01 August 2013 09:08
By Noam Chomsky, Truthout | Op-Ed


On July 9, the Organization of American States held a special session to discuss the shocking behavior of the European states that had refused to allow the government plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales to enter their airspace.

Morales was flying home from a Moscow summit on July 3. In an interview there he had said he was open to offering political asylum to Edward J. Snowden, the former U.S. spy-agency contractor wanted by Washington on espionage charges, who was in the Moscow airport.

The OAS expressed its solidarity with Morales, condemned “actions that violate the basic rules and principles of international law such as the inviolability of Heads of State,” and “firmly” called on the European governments - France, Italy, Portugal and Spain - to explain their actions and issue apologies.

.......(snip).......

Like Snowden, Manning committed the crime of revealing to Americans - and others - what their government is doing. That is a severe breach of “security” in the operative meaning of the term, familiar to anyone who has pored over declassified documents. Typically “security” means security of government officials from the prying eyes of the public to whom they are answerable - in theory. .........................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/17923-is-edward-j-snowden-aboard-this-plane

[dipsydoodle]

1. The US should be voted out of the OAS.

.

[Catherina]

3. Voted out? I hope they totally dump it altogether and only work with CELAC

The OAS is just a Trojan Horse into Latin American affairs. They failed shamefully over reintegrating Cuba who the member states wanted in, and getting Zelaya and Aristide back into office after the US-backed coups. Canada's only there to protect its mining and cheap labor interests and the US is only there to bully everyone around, which the member states already understood so they set up CELAC and do their real work from there. They can leave Canada and the US on their own with whatever puppets they have at the time lol.


CELAC comprises 33 countries speaking five different languages:

Eighteen Spanish-speaking countries (56% of the area, 63% of the population)

Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Costa Rica
Cuba
Dominican Republic
Ecuador
El Salvador
Guatemala
Honduras
Mexico
Nicaragua
Panama
Paraguay
Peru
Uruguay
Venezuela

One Portuguese-speaking country (42% of the area, 34% of the population)

Brazil

One French-speaking country (0.1% of the area, 1.6% of the population)

Haiti

Twelve English-speaking countries (1.3% of the area, 1.1% of the population)

Antigua and Barbuda
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Dominica
Grenada
Guyana
Jamaica
Saint Lucia
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Trinidad and Tobago

One Dutch-speaking country (0.8% of the area, 0.1% of the population)

Suriname

Twelve countries are in South America, which accounts for 87% of the area and 68% of the population.

[Enrique]

2. the pirate story

The reason was provided by St. Augustine in his tale about the pirate asked by Alexander the Great, “How dare you molest the sea?” The pirate replied, “How dare you molest the whole world? Because I do it with a little ship only, I am called a thief; you, doing it with a great navy, are called an Emperor.”

St. Augustine calls the pirate’s answer “elegant and excellent.” But the ancient philosopher, a bishop in Roman Africa, is only a voice from the global South, easily dismissed. Modern sophisticates comprehend that the Emperor has rights that little folk like Bolivians cannot aspire to.

[Catherina]

4. Lovely n/t