----- Original Message ----- From: "Doug Henwood" <dhenwood at panix.com> To: <lbo-talk at lists.panix.com> Sent: Friday, November 02, 2001 8:47 AM Subject: Re: Air Support to Ground Troops Re: Arguments for ground war
> Luke Weiger wrote:
>
> >Undoubtedly so, but only if it's a realistic concern:
> >http://www.tnr.com/110501/chait110501.html
>
> With Aaron gone, I guess we need someone else to channel Peretz and
Beinart.
Here's a factoid that will increase your revulsion for Dissent if you didn't already know it: Peretz is on their honory editorial board. Beinart, though far from a leftist, is a huge improvement from his predecessors Sullivan and Kelly.
> The anxieties about famine come from aid workers who are there.
Yes, anxietes that as of yet haven't manifested themselves in reality.
> The bromides come from neoconservatives in editorial offices in DC.
Do you glean all your wisdom on the workings of capitalism from the movers and shakers that are the most important cogs in it?
Chait's not a neo-con. He's a a mainstream liberal and former alum of the eminently presitigous UofM.
> I love this bit from Chait:
>
> >In fact, the more territory the United States liberates from Taliban
> >control, the more food it can deliver to starving Afghans.
>
> Has the military ction "liberated" a square inch of Taliban
> territory? The war is going disastrously even *on its own terms*.
No lefty should employ this line of argument. It's going "disastourously" because of the (perhaps cynical) desire of Bush and Co. to refrain from killing massive numbers of civilians. With truly overwhelming force, Kabul could be had by the end of the month. However, the pile of dead bodies on all sides would be a rather grisly sight.
-- Luke