Re: Bosnia and CPUSA

[Louis N Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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 T I M   W O L F O R T H  wrote the following:
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> I would point out to Louis Proyect, who remains quite orthodox in a
> Trotskyist sense, that Trotsky was strongly for the defense of the China
> against Japanese aggression in the course of WWII.  This position was
> developed further by James P. Cannon (though opposed by Max Shachtman) who
> claimed that the overall imperialist nature of the world conflict subsumed
> the Chinese struggle for independence.  The SWP favored, among other things,
> concrete military aid from the U.S. and whomever, for the Chinese (both
> Koumintang and CP).

Louis Proyect:
Just a note from the woodshed (I shall return). Trotskyists also
supported Haile Sailesse against Mussolini. The point is that Ethiopia
and China, despite the character of their reactionary, military
leaderships, were colonial countries, and Japan and Italy were
imperialist nations trying to maintain colonial rule.

But why throw these examples into the mix. It just confuses things and
what we need in this discussion is clarity above all else. The
Yugoslavian civil war has about as much to do with the conflicts
enumerated above as a gorilla has to do with a bear. Yes, both animals
are covered with fur and like to growl and walk about on their hind legs
occasionally. Yes, in the Yugoslavian civil war, people are shooting guns
at each other and many innocent civilians are dying just as they did in
China and Ethiopia.

But let's not confuse surface appearances with reality. A bear is not a
gorilla. Yugoslavia is not a colonized nation defending itself from an
imperialist nation. But, Tim, if it makes you feel better to see
Yugoslavia the same way Trotsky saw Ethiopia or China, well, go ahead, old
boy. I won't stand in the way.


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