Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
>
> It's time for leftists in the West to recognize the non-existence of
> the powerful secular Left in the Middle East. I don't say we should
> be happy about it. Just quit being in denial about it.
Agreed.
But this whole debate gets skewed if all parties to it don't acknowledge clearly that the position of u.s. leftists is peculiar, as was the position of leftists (mostly in exile or dead) in Germany in the 1930s. For us _the enemy_ is the u.s. (Brecht's "Pale Germany" is appropriate for us, with "United States" replacing "Germany.") There is a desperate need for a worldwide United Front to defeat U.S. imperialism. The theoretical, strategic, and tactical questions for us must all be grasped in their relation to this primary challenge of the 21st century.
Abstract babble about whether the enemy of our enemy is or is not our friemd is irrelevant for us, because of the nature of our primary enemy. We _do_ need to focus carefully on whether a "declared enemy" of u.s. imperialism is in fact an enemy -- but that is another question.
Carrol
P.S. After I had written this but before sending it I opened michael lebowitz'a poston pen-l, " Hezbollah, imperialism and Chavez," with it's headline: "Leader of Hezbollah Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah: United front against Imperialism." I haven't read the post yet, but that headline certainly indicates the direction which leftist thought worldwide should follow.