Re: World Hypocrisy Watch:The Junta and the Taliban

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Julio Pino wrote:

> , but why is there near total silence by the international left on
> human rights abuses in Mynmar, as opposed to Afghanistan? You don't suppose
> it's because the perpetrators aren't Muslims, do ya?

I think a different explanation is needed for each case. And even then, I
doubt there is any one reason that characterizes the "international left" as
a whole.

Both Afghanistan and Mynmar are cases of extreme repression. "We" can't
really do much about either. (At any given time "we" can't do much about
a large number of evils in the world -- hence we must pick and choose.)
They *differ* in that Afghanistan is a dramatic example of the result of U.S.
interference in the third world. And for those of us in the U.S. at least one
of our chief tasks is to bring to our fellow citizens the truth about their
own government. Afghanistan helps with that. Mynmar does not.

Carrol