"Small nukes biggest threat to mankind: Chomsky"

Rezaul H Laskar in New Delhi

Indo-Asian News Service

Noted intellectual Noam Chomsky on Saturday said weapons of
mass destruction, especially small nuclear devices, posed
the greatest threat to countries all over the world.



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.



Even in a highly advanced country like the US, 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.



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. He attributed
the rapid proliferation of nuclear weapons to the failure of
the US to agree to some sort of protocol on controlling the
spread of weapons of mass destruction as far back as the
1950s.



Speaking on the theme 'Peering into the abyss of the
future', Chomsky lashed out at the US intervention in
developing parts of the world, the role of the corporate
world in supporting power systems and the ongoing arms
races.



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.



Referring to the ongoing US 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.



Chomsky accused the US 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.



Describing New Delhi's support for the US's National Missile
Defence programme as "astonishing", Chomsky said the move
could have far-reaching consequences for India and other
countries in its neighbourhood.



The US, 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.



All space-based defensive assets would be heavily dependent
on satellite communications. Given the vulnerability of
satellites, however, the US 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.



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.



"These developments are important if the momentum can be
sustained," he said.



Indo-Asian News Service"