Reviews

9-11: Was There an Alternative? by Noam Chomsky

laurenramsden99's review

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

3.25

I liked the informative nature of this book, but the writing was quite inaccessible and slow for such a short book. I did think Chomsky made some interesting points to reframe the legacy of 911. 

mkk's review

4.0

An enlightening read. Written in interview style, some of the information can get quite annoyingly repetitive but it was good in a way for reinforcement. I appreciate how he disliked giving vague general responses and always backed his answers with historical examples. I’m more familiar with some of the wars (still a long way to go) but the most interesting aspect was the perspective. It’s not US-centric, it’s the opposite. He turns the tables and highlights Washington’s atrocities and their motivations behind them. But most of all, it reveals the dirty game that politics was and have always been, for the fact that there are no enemies when everyone in authority was just as selfish, with the collateral being innocent lives. It highlights how definitions and countermeasures are twisted to advantage , and how the parties you think (for all of history) are at war might just be in fact, working together to provide the most illusory image to the gullible masses. It’s a disturbing realisation because for a long time, a certain belief and disdain was held about the “obvious” perpetrators and the media wasn’t exactly too helpful to provide a both-sided view on it. Chomsky had allowed that narrow view to be challenged and now I feel a tad wiser and more skeptical on the matter. It’s not a revelation. It’s more of a “how did I not understand that before when it seemed to be the logical view, given human nature” sort of moment. This might not be news to an informed cynic, but it might help them add more to their views on the matter.

tsutrav's review

3.0

It's hard to argue with someone as well read and complete as Chomsky. So rarely do I find myself arguing with him, even when I disagree.
As usual this book presents some of Chomsky's very detailed analysis on US actions around the globe and his opinions on the outcomes of those actions. It seems a very clear line for Chomsky, between US actions over the past 20 years and the terrorist attacks of 9-11.
A lot of the material in this book has been printed before in other Chomsky books. This one is sort of a "new organization of the timelines and 'cause and effect' policy notes" that Chomsky has presented.
This is a strong read for anyone wanting to hear a clear concise voice on policies, politics, and history that pre-dates 9-11, whether you think those policies are to blame or not.