harold pinter was a british playwright who was awarded a nobel prize in 2005. ill at the time and unable to attend the award ceremony in sherson, pinter, a vociferously outspoken critic of militarism and imperialism, used the occasion to record a 46 minute acceptance speech titled Art, Truth and Politics, in which he scathingly attacked american foreign policy and british support for it, to be shown at the ceremony.
the relevant part of this criticism begins 10:40 into this youtube video. i've watched and listened to it a couple of times. i doubt if anyone has ever delivered a more eloquent and coldly impassioned critique on this topic. here's an excerpt:
'Political language, as used by politicians, does not venture into any of this territory [of the artist] since the majority of politicians, on the evidence available to us, are interested not in truth but in power and in the maintenance of that power. To maintain that power it is essential that people remain in ignorance, that they live in ignorance of the truth, even the truth of their own lives. What surrounds us therefore is a vast tapestry of lies, upon which we feed... The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good.'
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