Re: The weird men behind Bush's war

[Mike Friedman <mikedf@xxxxxxxx>]

One thing that strikes me is that this document has stirred up list
members' ire around the issue -- to me totally secondary -- of whether or
not neocons are ex-leftists or ex-Trotskyists or not, but absolutely NO
response to what is their main contention: "Quasi-Marxist explanations
involving big oil or American capitalism are mistaken," as explanations of
the Bush administration's foreign policy. Instead, we are given the rather
vague and mushy explanation that: "(a)s a result of several bizarre and
unforeseeable contingencies - such as the selection rather than election of
George W Bush,
and 11 September - the foreign policy of the world's only global power is
being made by a small clique that is unrepresentative of either the US
population or the mainstream foreign policy establishment." The author of
this article, Michael Lind, really doesn't analyze what motivates this
group, at all. I am left with the impression that they are motivated by
some sort of ideological crusade. Ain't gonna be me that analyzes this, but
it seems to me that they are avoiding the issue of causality, which they
claim to be addressing, and delving in unjustifiable conspiracy theory.
Their claim that  "Yes, American oil companies and contractors will accept
the spoils of the kill in Iraq. But the oil business, with its Arabist bias
[sic], did not push for this war any more than it supports the Bush
administration's close alliance with Ariel Sharon," seems to ignore the
documentation regarding pro-active initiatives by oil companies with
respect to Iraqi oil, ties between the energy industry and military, and,
generally, how the ruling class has historically formulated its foreign
policy (foundations and think tanks). Maybe the Bonapartism of the Bush
cabal has them mystified!

Mike



At 04:03 PM 4/4/2003 -0500, you wrote:
> Date: Fri, 4 Apr 2003 19:42:46 +0100
> From: "Paddy Apling" <e.c.apling@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: The weird men behind Bush's war
>
> From the New Statesman,London, England:
>
> The weird men behind George W Bush's war
> Cover story
> Michael Lind
> Monday 7th April 2003
>
>
> Imagine a new British invasion of Egypt orchestrated by the followers of Ian
> Paisley, and you will have some idea of what is happening in Washington.
> Michael Lind dissects a neoconservative coup
>
> America's allies and enemies alike are baffled. What is going on in the
> United States? Who is making foreign policy? And what are they trying to
> achieve? Quasi-Marxist explanations involving big oil or American capitalism
> are mistaken. Yes, American oil companies and contractors will accept the
> spoils of the kill in Iraq. But the oil business, with its Arabist bias, did
> not push for this war any more than it supports the Bush administration's
> close alliance with Ariel Sharon. Further, President Bush and Vice-President
> Cheney are not genuine "Texas oil men" but career politicians who, in
> between stints in public life, would have used their connections to enrich
> themselves as figureheads in the wheat business, if they had been residents
> of Kansas, or in tech companies, had they been Californians.