[lbo-talk] Platypus: what we are, what we do, and why

Carrol Cox cbcox at ilstu.edu
Fri Apr 9 20:58:36 PDT 2010


Joseph Catron wrote:
>
> On Thu, Apr 8, 2010 at 2:10 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
>
> Actually, on further thought, I'm not sure I have some "principled"
> > opposition to imperialism, in some rigid, a priori sense. It does seem to be
> > an empirical fact, however, that every U.S. military intervention has been
> > evil.
> >
>
> "Evil" is one of those words I think always confuses more than it clarifies,
> but leaving that aside, what's your take on the post-war occupations of
> Germany and (especially) Japan?

Anti-Nazi organizations in Germany that had survved through the Hitler years were destroyed by the U.S. Occupation. Unconditional Surrender, the basis for the Occupation, was a disastrous policy. I can't think of any great good flowing from the occupation of Japan, & the presence of US troops there still (Okinawa) is ridiculuous. I don't care for the word evil either, but some summarizing term for that which is to be opposed is needed. Doug has it pretty much right.

Carrol

The analyses through which some Marxists
> frown on them, while cheering on Reconstruction, have always boggled my mind
> - not that you necessarily adhere to any of them, of course.
>
> --
> "Hige sceal þe heardra, heorte þe cenre, mod sceal þe mare, þe ure mægen
> lytlað."
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