>Afg is serving as an ordnance testing range now, but I really doubt
>that it will be used like the Marshalls or Vieques when the bombing
>stops.
With each war (whether America emerged victorious or fought it to a stalemate), the U.S. government has tended to gain new military bases; & once it gains a new base, it seldom ever relinquishes it, as Okinawans, South Koreans, Saudis, Yugoslavs, and others have found out. In this regard, we should think of not only U.S. military presence in Afghanistan but also Uzbekistan and Tajikistan: "The Washington Post said the Army's 10th Mountain Division sent more than 1,000 troops Tuesday night on an unprecedented combat deployment to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, *the first time a regular Army infantry unit has been sent on a mission to a former Soviet republic*" (emphasis added, Colin McMahon, "U.S. Forces Find a Likely Strike Base" _Washington Post_ 3 Oct 01, at <http://chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-0110030379oct03.story>). The U.S. military presence is worse in the long term for Afghans and others than their local tyrants are, in that it would be harder to expel it than to overthrow them, for obvious reasons.
You rightly concluded your article on "War" in _Left Business Observer_ (#98, 18 Oct 01) on the following note (on page 3): "Any long-term solution to the 'terrorist' problem would require the U.S. to revise its support of the wretched regimes of the Middle East, and to do something about the 100/1 ratio between the incomes of rich and poor worldwide. But we should be honest about what that means -- *a retreat from empire*" (emphasis added). A demand now that the U.S. government and/or the U.N. reconstruct and develop Afghanistan in the sense of "nation-building," however, will merely be used as a humanitarian wedge to justify imperialism -- the very opposite of "a retreat from empire."
>You've told us why the Marshall Plan happened. All that is correct.
>But I'm talking about making it a political demand that the US and
>its imperial partners pay up. You don't have to tell me that's a
>long shot, but I don't get the fatalism about making the demand in
>the first place.
If you are demanding *reparation* to all victims of colonialism & imperialism, including descendants of the enslaved Africans & the displaced indigenous peoples, I won't argue with you. A demand for reparation is better than a demand for reconstruction and development (= "nation-building"), in that the former clearly publicizes crimes of colonialism & imperialism and guilt of U.S., West European, and Japanese governments, whereas the latter will become a justification for a civilizing mission. It is sad that 911 totally eclipsed the World Conference against Racism in Durban, SA. -- Yoshie
* Calendar of Anti-War Events in Columbus: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html> * Anti-War Organizing in Columbus Covered by the Media: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/media.html>