Academic Mr Noam Chomsky, a noted critic of US foreign policy, says US retaliation for this week's terror attacks would be a "gift" for its chief suspect, Saudi-born militant Osama bin Laden.
In an interview with left-leaning Mexican daily
La Jornada
, Mr Chomsky said Tuesday's attacks on US landmarks would spark "a new type of war" benefiting "the hard men" of the United States and their guerrilla counterparts abroad and harming the poor.
"The terrorist attack was a greater assault on the poor and oppressed of the world. The Palestinians will be flattened by this," said Mr Chomsky, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
"It's a gift to the jingoistic hard right of the US and of Israel. And the planned response will be ... a gift to Bin Laden ... exactly the type of reprisal action he and his friends want," Mr Chomsky added.
The United States is garnering support from international allies in preparation for a possible offensive in retaliation for the attacks. Speculation has centred on Afghanistan as a target of the military response since it is sheltering bin Laden.
Mr Chomsky warned that any massive military response from the United States and its allies could provoke more and possibly worse terror attacks from guerrillas who were content to die through their actions.