nutboy

[Brad DeLong]

>Brad DeLong wrote:
>
>Consider Chomsky's claim that: "In the early 1990s, primarily for 
>cynical great power reasons, the U.S. selected Bosnian Muslims as 
>their Balkan clients..." On its face this is ludicrous. When the 
>United States selects clients for cynical great power reasons, it 
>selects strong clients--not ones whose unarmed men are rounded up 
>and shot by the thousands. And Bosnian Muslims as a key to U.S. 
>politico-military strategy in Europe? As Bismarck said more than a 
>century ago, "There is nothing in the Balkans that is worth the 
>bones of a single Pomeranian grenadier." It holds true today as 
>well: the U.S. has no strategic or security interest in the Balkans 
>that is worth the death of a single Carolinian fire-control 
>technician. U.S. intervention in the Balkans in the 1990s was 
>"humanitarian" in origin and intention (even if we can argue about 
>its effect). Only a nut-boy loon would argue otherwise.
>
>But whenever I ask the Chomskyites why he would claim that, "In the 
>early 1990s, primarily for cynical great power reasons, the US 
>selected Bosnian Muslims as their Balkan clients..." I get one or 
>more of three responses:
>
>It was said in haste in an interview--it's not representative of his thought.
>Of course the U.S. selected Bosnian Muslims as their Balkan clients 
>for great power reasons! Mineral wealth! Oil pipelines!
>Yes, he's made some mistakes. And he refuses to back down or make 
>concessions when he is wrong. But it's more than counterbalanced by 
>the stunning quality of his insights!
>---
>
>Only a nut-boy would say there were power-political motives behind 
>US policy in Bosnia? Then the Bush and Clinton admionistration were 
>full of nutboys:
>
>
>"New York Times
>May 27, 1992
>
>Why the U.S. Now Leans on Belgrade
>
>The immediate motive for sharper United States words and actions 
>against the authorities in Belgrade in the Yugoslav conflict is 
>revulsion at the killing of civilians and other violence by Serbian 
>forces in Bosnia and Herzegovina..."
>Seth

Yes. Only a nutboy would say "primarily for cynical great power 
reasons." And only another nutboy would think this NYT article 
demonstrates that the U.S. supported Bosnian Muslims "primarily for 
cynical great power reasons."

Why are you trying so hard to reduce your credibility to the level of 
Reed Irvine?