Kurdistan Workers' Party

The Kurdistan Workers' Party is identified in the book as a group designated by the United States as a foreign terrorist organization. Its appearance in the official list provides a specific instance of a wider argument: the designation system gives the label institutional force, while the book questions the consistency with which terrorism is defined and attributed.

Identification and Designation

In a list dated October 5, 2001, the Kurdistan Workers' Party appears as the thirteenth listed organization, identified by the abbreviation PKK. The evidence establishes its inclusion in the United States’ foreign terrorist organization register, but does not describe the group’s structure, membership, operations, or the circumstances behind its designation.

The book places this listing alongside its account of the designation process. The Secretary of State makes or renews a designation after reviewing a comprehensive report prepared from public and confidential sources by intelligence agencies. The State Department, working with the Justice Department, Treasury Department, and intelligence services, compiles an administrative record of the group’s alleged terrorist activities. Congress receives confidential notice seven days before an organization is formally listed.

The Meaning of the Terrorism Label

The list’s official status is set against Chomsky’s distinction between a literal definition of terrorism and the term’s political use. He cites the official American definition as the calculated use or threat of violence for political, religious, or ideological ends, including intimidation, coercion, or the creation of fear. Under that definition, he says, the attacks on the United States discussed in the book were unquestionably terrorist crimes.

At the same time, Chomsky argues that public and governmental usage often reserves the label for acts by enemies against the United States or its allies. He contrasts that convention with his claim that official definitions of terrorism closely resemble the stated doctrine of low-intensity warfare, which directs coercive force at civilian populations for political purposes. In this framework, the Kurdistan Workers' Party’s presence on the list is not accompanied by a parallel discussion of particular acts; rather, it illustrates how a formal designation can establish a category without resolving the book’s larger question about whether the category is applied consistently.

Procedure and Limits of the Record

Designations are subject to judicial review. If challenged in federal court, the government relies on the administrative record to defend the Secretary of State’s decision, but that record contains intelligence information and is confidential. The book therefore describes a process with formal review and evidentiary documentation while also noting that central supporting material is not public.

A designation expires after two years unless renewed. New organizations may be added at any time by the Secretary of State after consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of the Treasury; a designation may also be revoked when the Secretary considers revocation warranted, following notice to Congress. The listing of the Kurdistan Workers' Party is thus presented as a legally maintained status, not as a narrative of the organization’s history or a detailed account of the evidence against it.

Place in the Book’s Argument

Chomsky’s central concern is the asymmetry between the literal definition of terrorism and the political convention that identifies terrorism chiefly with adversaries. He argues that the same kinds of actions and actors may be labeled differently as governments’ policies change, and that official terminology can obscure responsibility when powerful states or their clients use coercive violence. The book’s treatment of the Kurdistan Workers' Party remains limited to its designation, but the list makes visible the institutional side of that argument: political classification is translated into a procedure with administrative records, legal review, and periodic renewal.