Whenever I raise the role of the Allies in defeating Hitler et al., people seem to want to change the subject, or talk about how capitalism helped Hitler rise, upbraid me for raising the Nazi bogeyman, or deny that the motives of the Allied nations had any humanitarian basis, some of which is true in one sense or another, but all of which is beside the point. It's all a distraction from distinctions between evils, on which political choices are based. The logical basis of pacifism or revolutionary defeatism for opposing NATO in the Balkans is equally applicable to Roosevelt's decision to aid Britain against Hitler. They fail the Hitler Test.
The better to escape the emotive aspect of the WWII discussion, I proposed the Little Rock test and Nathan proposed the Appomatox Test. Nobody has responded yet. In both cases, the state for non-humanitarian motives used force to positive effect. Similarly, we could have a Diallou Test. Should the Ghouliani Regime prosecute the cops who shot (and hit) the African 19 times?
>
> Then , of course, things change. Germany is no longer a military
> power. In fact, the U.S. is the main military power in the world
> and certainly many, many times bigger than Yugoslavia. Thus,
> contra the sarcasm below, it is completely logical to focus IN
> 1999 , on the U.S. as the main imperialism ("supreme evil") in
> the world. No other country is launching wars in the last decade
In general I agree. But in this case, Kosova, I don't.
> like the U.S. Max tries to cover this simple fact up with the
> confusion below. His illogic goes something like : because there
> have been other imperialisms in history, it is ok for the U.S. to
> bomb Yugoslavia today, because the U.S. is not the worst
Has nothing to do with who is "worst." It has to do with the slaughter or deportation of innocent Muslims, as we speak. Say that to yourself three times, why dontcha.
> imperialism in history (the straight meaning of his sarcasm
> below) . As Louis Pro would say, "sick stuff". Even if the U.S.
LP's command of sickness parallels that of Dr. Kevorkian.
I guess this means my dinner invite in Detroit is null and void. Oh well. Florida's looking better all the time.
> weren't the worst imperialism in the world TODAY (which it is),
> it is U.S. imperialism that is bombing Yugoslavia and Iraq, not the Nazis.
What would you say to an Albanian Muslim, Charles?
mbs