[lbo-talk] Chomsky on ending occupation

Dennis Perrin dperrin at comcast.net
Wed Jul 23 06:19:37 PDT 2003



> What's the anti-imperialist
> objection? How do the "just out now, nothing else"
> crowd deal, in their stories, with the two problems of
> bad anarchy and the waste/theft of reparations? jks

Justin's right -- there's no way the US is leaving anytime soon, but if it were on the verge (needing only a domestic push), would the self-described anti-imperialists wash their hands of Iraq? I got that feeling with the minor noise before the invasion about the "human shields" who would place themselves in front of advancing troops or under fighter jets in order to supposedly save the common Iraqi (which of course assumes that the average US soldier or Marine has a conscience, 'else it would be mere suicide). I asked then if these prospective shields would try to protect Kurds or Shi'as from Ba'athist attacks, and received the predictable answer -- no. I assumed that a true internationalist would try to protect the victim from the aggressor regardless of address, but I was corrected on this front. So, there's a strong current of isolationism in "anti-imperialism," at least the kind celebrated here -- which is fine, so long as it's conceded up front and not tarted up in "internationalist" verbiage.

In any event, it will be interesting to see how long the two large festering nationalisms, Kurd & Shi'a, can keep from smashing the pretty window dressing of the present "democratic" council.

DP



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