Negation to Chomsky's Article

Since 9/11 the US Primary Foreign Policy focus has been combating terrorism in all shapes and forms, and therefore striving to do right to those who did wrong. Philosopher Noam Chomsky, in his article Was There an Alternative? presents an opposing opinion to the United States Foreign Policy after 9/11. “American exceptionalism” is the idea (as explained in Chomsky’s article) that the US is indeed using these counter terrorism efforts in an attempt to show how the US is different from other nations because the US does not get punished for its actions. I strongly believe Chomsky was false in his words about alternative views to the 9/11 attacks. Operation Geronimo was justified and furthermore it is clear that the US was acting in defense and as a matter of international security.

Throughout Chomsky’s article, he displays ignorance and a lack of sensibility when discussing the alternative ways or views surrounding 9/11. Chomsky’s views bring false verification towards the idea of American exceptionalism. Chomsky in his article states “ presumably one reason why polls show that fully a third of American respondents believe that the US government and/or Israel were behind 9/11”(Chomsky 4).  While in the Muslim world the skepticism is much higher.”  Now the information presented by Chomsky has many falsities that make the information unreliable. Firstly it is generally agreed that the Muslim community is not favorable of Israel, mainly due to the disputes over Palestine. Palestine is a large area in Israel that has a huge Muslim population. Israel’s refusal to grant or recognize Palestinian independence has fueled the uprising of terrorist groups such as Hamas, and has increased the Muslim communities hatred of Israel. Therefore it is obvious to see, why the Muslim community, as Chomsky states, would blame 9/11 on the Israeli. Another mistake Chomsky makes is comparing the President of the United States to Osama Bin Laden. Chomsky says, “ How we would be reacting if Iraqi commandos had landed in George Bush’s compound, assassinated him and dumped his body in the Atlantic”(Chomsky 6).  Which is not an accurate comparison because Bush was the President of the United States and an international leader; whereas Osama Bin Laden was a terrorist who was not a country’s leader, but instead a radical terrorist.

George Washington, the First President of the United States, once said, “ If new difficulties arise, we must put forth new exertion and proportion our efforts to exigencies of the times”. In the quote George Washington is essentially trying to show the importance of handling new problems effectively, to reach a resolution to the problem quickly. It is these words that must carry on in the minds of the reader while observing, the second reason, that Operation Geronimo was indeed an act of justice and did not extend to an act in favor of American exceptionalism. Operation Geronimo was not an act of American exceptionalism mainly because it was not just the US that Osama Bin Laden had harmed, but instead multiple countries. As a result significant political figures from nearly every country in the world praised the US. Britain, a country that has been actively involved in the fight against terrorism since the British tube bombings, welcomed the news. Prime Minister David Cameron after hearing the news of the death stated that the killing of Osama Bin Laden “ is a massive step forward.” As well as Great Britain, countries such as Afghanistan also celebrated the death of Osama bin Laden.  Constantly in Chomsky’s article, he addresses the point that Osama Bin Laden should have been kept alive to have been questioned by authorities, and that the United States broke multiple international laws by not giving Bin Laden a fair trail but Former General Attorney of the US, Eric Holder, explains that the killing of Osama Bin Laden on the spot was legally justified because “He was the head of Al-Qaeda, an organization that had conducted the attacks of September 11th. He admitted his involvement and he indicated that he would not be taken alive. The operation against Bin Laden was justified as an act of national self defense.” It could also be said, that it was the United States duty as a world hegemonic power to in fact kill Osama Bin Laden as a matter of international security. Probably the most important justification to the killing of Osama Bin Laden as an act of international importance and not for the sake of American exceptionalism was that the UN, or United Nations. The principle world body, who creates and develops international law (what Chomsky said was violated) came out after the killing of Osama Bin Laden, and made a statement that welcomed “ the news on May 1, 2011 that Osama bin Laden will never again be able to perpetrate such acts of terrorism…The Security Council recognizes this critical development and other accomplishments made in the fight against terrorism and urges all states to remain vigilant and intensify their efforts in the fight against terrorism." The fact that the United Nations recognized the accomplishment and never states any violation of laws has occurred completely disproves Chomsky’s main point that the US broke international law, while also disclaiming American exceptionalism.

Lastly, the United States killing of Osama Bin Laden and war on terrorism was justified because it was a matter of national security, not an opportunity to recognize American exeptionalism.  Winston Churchill, in 1940, stated “without victory there is no survival.” Winston Churchill’s quote is very applicable to the situation regarding the killing of Osama bin Laden for the same reason, that similar to Britain, at the time of Churchill’s speech, the United States had been threatened. Therefore, offensive action by the US could be deemed as defense because it was required to defend the countries border, because for the same reason as Britain, if the US had never had pushed so tough on “the war on terror”, the US would have never won and therefore would be facing the same fate as it did on 9/11 constantly without any action. The United States killing Osama Bin Laden was not only an act of self defense for the US because of the thousands of citizens that had died, but also it was an act of defense for every country in which Osama Bin Laden had effected. And if it were not for the US using offense as a form of defense, Al Qaeda would still be one of the world’s most dangerous terrorist organizations. Because of Bin Laden’s death, Al Qaeda’s profit has dropped from billions to a little over 200 million, and has not caused as many atrocities due to the lack of leadership and stability. Therefore creating further justification for the United States acting to defend multiple countries in the world from Bin Laden’s wrath and strangle hold on such countries as Afghanistan, which since has been able to not only hold its first democratic election, but is now becoming more independent with the US pulling more troops out every year.

In conclusion, I believe Chomsky was wrong in his views of “American exceptionalism”, because of the falsity of Chomsky’s alternative views to 9/11, and because operation Geronimo was justified and furthermore the US was acting on behalf of the international community.

Work Cited:

Chomsky, Noam. "Was There an Alternative?" The Huffington Post. HuffingtonPost.com, 06 Sept. 2011. Web. 10 Sept. 2015.

 "Osama Bin Laden's Death: Political Reaction in Quotes - BBC News." BBC News. BBC News, 03 May 2011. Web. 10 Sept. 2015.

 "Osama Bin Laden Dead: UN Security Council Rejoices at Death of Bin Laden." The Telegraph. Telegraph group, 02 May 2011. Web. 10 Sept. 2015.

 Quotations of George Washington. Bedford, MA: Applewood, 2003. Print.

 The Quotable Winston Churchill. Philadelphia, PA: Running Book Publisers, 2013. Print.

 Williams, Pete. "Bin Laden Killing Was Legally Justified, Holder Says."Msnbc.com. Nbc News, 04 May 2011. Web. 11 Sept. 2015.