简介：WhetherNoamChomsky,theMITlinguistandpoliticalphilosopher,isthemostimportantintellectualalive,astheNewYorkTimesoncefamouslycalledhim,isopenfordebate.Butwithoutadoubt,Chomsky,now73,isoneofthemoststraight-talkingandcommitteddissidentsofourtime.AsteadfastcriticofUnitedStatesforeignpolicyfordecades,intheaftermathoftheterroristattacksofSeptember11th,hisprofiletookaquantumleapasheprovidedmuch-neededanalysisandhistoricalperspectivetoconcernedcitizensthroughouttheworld.Inthemonthsthatfollowed,hegavedozensoftalksonfourcontinents,conductedscoresofinterviews,andwroteabook9-11thatwaspublishedin22countriesandbecameasurprisebestsellerinmanyofthem,includingJapan.Chomsky'svoicemaybeunpopular,buthisincisivearguments,basedondecadesofresearchandanalysis,areheardandconsideredinthischroniclecomprisedofinterviewfootage,andvarioustalkshe'sgiven.ChomskyplacestheterroristattacksinthecontextofAmericanforeigninterventionthroughoutthepostwardecades--inVietnam,CentralAmerica,theMiddleEast,andelsewhere.Beginningwiththefundamentalprinciplethattheexerciseofviolenceagainstcivilianpopulationsisterror,regardlessofwhethertheperpetratorisawell-organizedbandofMuslimextremists,orthemostpowerfulstateintheworld.Chomsky,instarkanduncompromisingterms,challengestheUnitedStatestoapplytoitsownactionsthemoralstandardsitdemandsofothers.…