2001 Quote by Christopher Hitchens
![“Some readers may have noticed an icy little missive from Noam Chomsky ["Letters," December 3], repudiating the very idea that he and I had disagreed on the "roots" of September 11. I rush to agree. Here is what he told his audience at MIT on October 11: I'll talk about the situation in…” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/0d5/christopher-hitchens-117_2001_some-readers-may-have-noticed-an-icy-lit_2701880.jpg)
““Some readers may have noticed an icy little missive from Noam Chomsky ["Letters," December 3], repudiating the very idea that he and I had disagreed on the "roots" of September 11. I rush to agree. Here is what he told his audience at MIT on October 11: I'll talk about the situation in Afghanistan… Looks like what's happening is some sort of silent genocide… It indicates that whatever, what will happen we don't know, but plans are being made and programs implemented on the assumption that they may lead to the death of several million people in the next—in the next couple of weeks… very casually with no comment… we are in the midst of apparently trying to murder three or four million people. Clever of him to have spotted that (his favorite put-down is the preface 'Turning to the facts...') and brave of him to have taken such a lonely position. As he rightly insists, our disagreements are not really political.””
About This Quote
Source Interview: The Spectator, 2005
Hitchens critiques Chomsky’s silence on genocide, highlighting moral responsibility to speak out against mass atrocities.
In simple terms: Silence on genocide is morally unacceptable.
Key Takeaway
Speak out against mass atrocities.
Themes
ethics
politics
human rights
Mood
urgent
serious
Type
political
ethical
When to use this quote
- humanitarian work
- journalism
- policy advocacy
Key Concepts
moral responsibility
political activism
Questions to Reflect On
- What are the risks of speaking out?
- How can you verify claims before publicizing?
A Different Perspective
Silence can be strategic, not always cowardice.
![“It's [Los Angeles] mostly full of nonsense and delusion and egomania. They think they'll be young and beautiful forever, even though most of them aren't even young and beautiful now.” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/a86/christopher-hitchens-117_beautiful_it-s-los-angeles-mostly-full-of-nonsense_10462.jpg)
![“[Religion] attacks us in our deepest integrity - the core of our self-respect. Religion says that we would not know right from wrong, we would not know an evil, wicked act from a decent human act without divine permission, without divine authority or without, even worse, either the fear of a…” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/ab6/christopher-hitchens-117_action_religion-attacks-us-in-our-deepest-integ_23299.jpg)
