[lbo-talk] Mr. Churchill

[John Adams]

On Feb 4, 2005, at 12:11 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:

>> Finally, I have never characterized  all the September 11 victims as 
>> "Nazis." What I said  was that the "technocrats of empire" working in 
>> the  World Trade Center were the equivalent of "little Eichmanns."  
>> Adolf Eichmann was not charged with direct killing but with ensuring  
>> the smooth running of the infrastructure that enabled the Nazi 
>> genocide. Similarly, German industrialists were legitimately  
>> targeted by the Allies.
>
> Even a bond trader is a long way from a cog in the Nazi death machine.

I read the original essay to mean everyone in the WTC, which would take 
in the members of SEIU and HERE who died there.

> And he's a little disturbing when he declares the WTC a "legitimate 
> military target":
>
>> It is not disputed that the  Pentagon was a military target, or that 
>> a CIA office was situated  in the World Trade Center. Following the 
>> logic by which U.S.  Defense Department spokespersons have 
>> consistently sought to  justify target selection in places like 
>> Baghdad, this placement  of an element of the American "command and 
>> control infrastructure"  in an ostensibly civilian facility converted 
>> the Trade Center  itself into a "legitimate" target.
>
> If he's turning the standards of the Pentagon against the U.S., then 
> he's adopting the morality of the imperialists, no?

Perhaps the original title of the essay began with "A Modest 
Proposal"--but I doubt that.

	John A