The problem with Chomsky is that he has a reality distortion field around whatever it is he reads that removes anything bad about governments Chomsky likes and removes anything good about governments he doesn't. He's not a liar but he is a zealot.
To remove the debate from more recent events, the thing I'll usually hold against Chomsky - and my example for why it's best to read him only for amusement not facts - is his morally abominable stance on the Khemer Rouge. Now, the US participated in some pretty morally grey crap in Cambodia during the Vietnam War, as did the North Vietnamese - the war bled into Cambodia which included US bombing of it, although it must be noted that this is because the NVA was operating out of the border. And of course said bombing surely killed lots of innocents in the process. Anyway, the point is, if Chomsky wants to excoriate the United States, fine.
*However*, because Cambodia was dragged into the Vietnam War, that means in Chomsky's mind that the Khmer Rouge were stout anti-imperialist swell dudes. He defended the Khmer Rouge for an * embarrassingly* long length of time, talked about how all this genocide yabber was nonsense and US propaganda, and said that if anybody was dying in Cambodia it was probably the US's fault. That was bad enough to say that in the late 70s when it was somewhat unclear, but to still not really change your tune or apologize in the 80s? IIRC, I even recall Chomsky indirectly ragging on the US for screwing with the UN in the late 70s... except that some of this was, of course, in support of the Khmer Rouge (whom inexplicably had the US, USSR, and China all considering them buddies). Genocide denial is not something to do lightly.
A quick Google turned this up, which seems about right:
http://jim.com/chomsdis.htmAnyway, the point is, I am sometimes in the mood for having someone point out the US's flaws, for all that the US in Chomsky's mind is something of a cartoon villain -e.g. any claimed nice motives are false, but Chomsky's not going to offer compelling different motives, so I guess the US just like hurting people for no reason. I have no patience for dictatorial / genocidal apologists, however. If Chomsky was one of those types who pointed out everyone's flaws from a leftist perspective, *including* Venezuela/ Iran/Hamas/etc., he'd be tolerable. But no, if anybody stands up to the US they automatically can do no wrong in his book no matter how evil & corrupt they are.
