Noam Chomsky - Turning the Tide U.S. intervention in

The Race to Destruction
Classics in Politics: Turning the Tide Noam Chomsky
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this prospect, remote with rare exceptions. In a poll of military experts,
55% ranked Middle East conflicts as the most likely cause for nuclear
war, with 16% choosing accidental use, a possible consequence of
technical advances in weaponry. 12 If we are willing to face the central
issue, we will find that there is often a great deal that we can do, since
not infrequently US policy has been instrumental in maintaining and
enflaming dangerous tensions and conflicts, primarily in the Middle East,
particularly since 1967, but also elsewhere, including Central America
and the Caribbean.
Until recently, the disarmament movement has tended to ignore this
central issue, sometimes in quite shameful ways. The most dramatic
example was the huge demonstration in June 1982 in connection with
the UN disarmament session. The demonstration took place a week
after the US-backed Israeli attack on Lebanon, which—apart from its
murderous consequences—brought the superpowers close to nuclear
confrontation as Israel attacked the forces of a Soviet ally, Syria, which
had not attempted to impede the Israeli onslaught, assuming it to be
aimed solely against the Palestinians. Joseph Gerson, peace secretary of
the AFSC in New England, comments: 13
If the June 12 march was one of the greatest successes of the
American peace movement, it was also one of our notable failures.
After serious debate, the June 12 Coalition decided not to address
questions of intervention in the organizing effort or at the rally in
Central Park. On June 12, as people in the Middle East were
being torn and seared with American-built cluster bombs, we were
silent in New York. While the world lurched toward the nuclear
holocaust that we had all come to prevent, we were silent. Only
one woman had the insight and courage to speak about the war in