Right after September 11, the U.S. Trade Representative, Robert Zoellick, said the first thing that had to be done to combat terrorism was to pass fast-track. Now that should really make Osama bin Laden tremble in his boots - that the President has Kremlin-style authority to sign economic agreements.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Chomsky sarcastically critiques the U.S. government's claim that granting fast-track trade authority would effectively combat terrorism.
- In plain terms
- Giving the president more power to sign trade deals won't make terrorists tremble.
- What can you take from it?
- Economic policy tools are often mislabeled as direct counterterrorism measures.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- What tools actually deter terrorism?
- How much executive power is too much?
Another view
The quote relies on irony and might not appeal to readers seeking direct analysis.
More from Noam Chomsky
It was a historic event. Not unfortunately because of its scale. Unpleasant to think about, but in terms of the scale it's not that unusual. I did say it's the…
Permalink to quote #95 Nothing can justify crimes such as those of September 11, but we can think of the United States as an 'innocent victim' only if we adopt the convenient path of…
Permalink to quote #97 The September 11 attacks were major atrocities. In terms of number of victims they do not reach the level of many others, for example, Clinton's bombing of the…
Permalink to quote #94
Related quotes
One can see the results of those policies in hundreds of communities around my State. As one might expect, our largest communities--places like Milwaukee, Madi…
Russ FeingoldRuss Feingold quote #19 Ricardo's 'science' was founded on the principle that capital is more or less immobile and labor highly mobile. We are enjoined today to worship the consequenc…
Noam ChomskyNoam Chomsky quote #26 Ambassador Zhou Wenzhong, welcome! Your great country [of China] makes our Happy Meals possible!
Stephen ColbertStephen Colbert quote #42