Sam, I prefaced, my cite of the dissertation, by saying I found it through reading David Horowitz site, Frontpage. Don't know this person's work, otherwise, printed it out about 9 months ago, courtesy the law firm's printers I was temping at then. Stuff on Chomsky, Lacoutre wasn't new to me. An ex-Maoist, (John Borrego, has written Wallersteinian world systems theory papers, said organizing in New Mexico, early 70's on FordcFoundation grants turned him into Maoist, btw) Community Studies teacher of mine at UCSC, had us read a Zed Press (European left publisher on Third World subjects) book by Caldwell on delinking, Cambodia in particular. Caldwell had many pieces in 60's Monthly Reviews, Journal of Contemporary Asia, etc.
Far from expert on this but, Vickery, Kiernan, even Shawcross (who in his book after the one slamming Kissenger, Nixon, slammed Chomsky re:skepticism of humanitarianism of Western aid orgs. Here the Noamster is right on) have left publishers, had their work vetted in all the usual ways (and this area is hardly non-controversial, as the thread shows) and as far as this particular dissertation goes calling it the work of a someone with a problem with the truth goes a bit too far. I'll reread this dissertation, this weekend.
This is unrelated, but always wanted to close with this (apocryphal?) jibe about 30's Stalinists unwilling or unable to see what was happening re: Stalinist purge trials, famine, etc. In answer to Trotskyist and socdem. polemics they would change the subject, by pointing to the oppression in the southern U.S. and say, "And they still lynch Blacks in the south!"
Michael Pugliese, really feeling grumpy now...