- New Delhi (IANS) - Noted intellectual Noam Chomsky Saturday
said weapons of mass destruction, especially small nuclear devices, posed
the greatest threat to countries all over the world.
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- One of America's most prominent political dissidents,
Chomsky said small nuclear weapons, particularly those weighing less than
15 pounds, could be smuggled into almost any country with relative ease.
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- Even in a highly advanced country like the U.S., studies
had shown that the possibility of such a nuclear weapon being smuggled
in had a greater chance of succeeding than a military strike using ballistic
missiles, he said while delivering the D.T. Lakdawala memorial lecture
here.
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- Chomsky emphasised the danger posed by thousands of nuclear
devices currently believed to be in former Soviet republics and scores
of nuclear scientists left "with no work" following the break-up
of the Soviet Union.
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- He attributed the rapid proliferation of nuclear weapons
to the failure of the U.S. to agree to some sort of protocol on controlling
the spread of weapons of mass destruction as far back as the 1950s.
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- Speaking on the theme "Peering into the abyss of
the future," Chomsky lashed out at his usual bete noires - U.S. intervention
in developing parts of the world, the role of the corporate world in supporting
power systems and ongoing arms races.
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- Lacing his remarks with dry wit and his trademark irreverent
attitude towards the establishment, Chomsky said democracy and human rights
were in danger of becoming "endangered species" due to the policies
of global powers that received the support of the elite and powerful.
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- Referring to the ongoing U.S. strikes against Afghanistan,
he said it had even become "unpatriotic" to question the working
of power. "But it is patriotic to agree to corporate tax cuts,"
he quipped.
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- Chomsky accused the U.S. administration of "quietly
endorsing" China's efforts to resume nuclear testing so that it could
press ahead with its ballistic missile defence. "It's convention for
an attack to be called defence," he said.
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- Describing New Delhi's support for the U.S.'s National
Missile Defence programme as "astonishing," Chomsky said the
move could have far-reaching consequences for India and other countries
in its neighbourhood.
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- The U.S., he said, was alone in the race for militarisation
of outer space. The development of space-based weaponry would only serve
to increase American influence all over the world.
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- All space-based defensive assets would be heavily dependent
on satellite communications. Given the vulnerability of satellites, however,
the U.S. would have to seek "full spectrum dominance" and this
could lead to the development of laser and nuclear weapons that could bring
instant death to any part of the world, Chomsky said.
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- On the brighter side, he pointed to a "sharp acceleration"
in the human rights culture and democratic control over certain sectors
achieved through popular struggle as phenomena that could bring greater
change.
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- "These developments are important if the momentum
can be sustained," he said.
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