>marx was right about the civil war. but no one has demonstrated that even
>one kosovar has been saved by dint of nato's offensive offensive. and you've
>not shown how any of this would bring about class unity. if the u.s. wants a
>war in the name of "saving kosovo" (by destroying it, natch), i say fine.
>but put the troops down--if clinton really thinks he's right, he should be
>willing to do that. otherwise, this is an extremely expensive (and painful)
>example of clinton's self-serving spin game.
>
>best
>christian
Well I think Clinton is going to put the troops down. Blair has just made sure he has been photographed running up the steps to get into the plane to tell Clinton what to do.
If the anti-war movement in the US achieves anything other than feeling virtuously separate from the actions of its ruling class in war, from which it cannot dissociate itself in all sort of other ways, then the goals should be to restrict massive US NATO bombing, and restrict the deployment of US ground troops. Preferably at most to (important) guard duties in Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, perhaps, and local air support in Kosovo for OSCE nation troops, in support of armed KLA fighters.
Such a programme cannot be written for the US government but campaigning if it is to be more than a gesture, should identify some realisable progressive goals with both a short and a long term significance.
The fact that the present war in defence of the Kosovan right to self-determination started in an imperialist way, and was muddled, does not necessarily make it unjust.
As Marx wrote on "The North American Civil War" 20 October 1861,
"For months the leading weekly and daily papers of the London press have been reiterating the same litany on the American Civil War. While they insult the free states of the North, they anxiously defend themselves against suspicion of sympathising with the slave states of the South."
Like the opponents of this war would not dream of wanting to see Milosevic's social fascism triumph.
Chris Burford
London