Re: An letter to Against the Current - AN IMPORTANT SUGGESTION

["Xxxx Xxxxxx" <xxxxxxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I agree with Jared's points on East Timor (as well as Nestor's). Jared
comrade has pointed out an important connection between US imperialist
interests and various domestic/transnational coalitions that, deliberately
or unintentionally,  serve to the interests of imperialism in third world
countries (such as NGOs, women's, democracy, human rights advocacy groups
etc..). These groups have not only been very effective in terms of  shaping
the US public opinion, but also been active promoters of IMF/ WB/USAID  in
the name of introducing democracy to their respective nations. My general
concern was that no matter what we disagree with the bourgeois Indonesian
regime in power and its treatment of East Timorese, we should oppose UN
humanistic interventions and be committed to the unity of Indonesia as a
nation-state. The West is not interested in recognizing any form of
independence or genuine democracy for East Timorese. They are interested in
creating a  neo-colony so that they can better control Indonesian and
Timorese people. In the process, some pro-independence Timorese or
supporters of human rights for East Timor may think Timorese are not
necessarily instruments of imperialism. They may not be, but given the
current situation, they will eventually be, like Kosova/Albanian ethnic
groups have been. In the past, when I raised this concern with respect to
the Kurdish situation in Turkey, I was reminded by sectarian comrades on
L-I  that the promoters of Kurdish independence (PKK) were _not_ an
instrument of imperialism (which is true). PKK was an anti-US,
anti-government, socialist, nationalist establishment.  It was not similar
to Albanians in any sense. May be Nestor can help me figure out this
question since some of the things in Turkey are similar to Argentina, at
least in historical terms. If such a progressive ethnic situation would
show up in Argentina, would you go with the unity of Argentina as a nation
state or unite with the secessionary demands of ethnic groups (who are
*not* necessarily backed up by imperialist powers, but who may be pit
against other groups without their own conciousness ? )


After all, is every nationalist group progressive? We should stick to the
question of which nationalist groups deserve independence in the context of
imperialism currently. We shuld also stick to the question of ethnic
situation in semi-independent capitalist nation states (Argentina, Turkey,
Egypt..)

---
Xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxx
Ph.D Student
Department of Political Science
SUNY at Albany
Nelson A. Rockefeller College
135 Western Ave.; Milne 102
Albany, NY 12222


----------
> From: Borba100@xxxxxxx
> To: marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Re: An letter to Against the Current - AN IMPORTANT  SUGGESTION
> Date: Thursday, May 17, 2001 8:01 PM
>
> In a message dated 5/17/01 7:11:31 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
lnp3@xxxxxxxxx
> writes:
>
> <<  Jared, you should take the trouble to study up on Zimbabwe. You are
taking
>  one sentence out of context. Mugabe has spent 15 years bending over
>  backwards to keep the World Bank and the IMF placated....We should be
> looking out for the next Thomas Sankara, not these bums. >>
>
> I wrote  a long reply to this, but after I read it I figured I was
belaboring
> the point.
>
> Why, Lou, don't you put your considerable skills to doing intensive
> investigation of the web of connections between these democracy groups
> created by the U.S. all around the world, on the one hand, and the USAID,

> NED, NDI, IRI, etc. etc., (there are connected and similar parent groups
in
> South Africa, German y, etc.) on the other.  It's all (still) on the
> Internet.  Why don't you  document it. www.google.com, and so on.  Lexis.

> Etc.
>
> That would be a labor of Darwinian significance. A map of how the US is
> creating fifth columns.
>
> Jared