Re: Bush In Babylon

[Lueko.Willms@xxxxxxxxxxx (Lueko Willms)]

in reply to: 
# Subject: Bush In Babylon
# From: Gary MacLennan <g.maclennan@xxxxxxxxxx>
# Date: Sat, 01 Nov 2003 17:37:52 +1000

  I join in the recommendation of this new book by Tariq Ali (which
has been published at the same time in a German translation,
published by Diederichs, i.e. Hugendubel), as I wrote already some
days ago on this list. 

  But I think that this is not Tariq Ali, but Gary MacLennan writing:


> It is clear now that this is the Vietnam War of this time.  
> A major struggle is being waged heroically by the people of 
> Baghdad and Fallujah and other towns.  
> The Shia may be standing on the side lines.  
> The Kurds may be co-operating with the invader, but 
> the Sunni Triangle has locked horns with the New Mongols.

   Some reservations and qualifications do apply, in my view: 

1. Other than in Vietnam or other struggles for national liberation,
there is not (yet) a single leadership recognized as THE leadership
of the struggle. Well, OK, in Vietnam (South Vietnam) there were also
the Buddist monks, Algeria had a rival to the FLN, in Angola there
were FNLA and UNITA competing with the MPLA for leadership, even in
Cuba there were the PSP and the Revolutionary Directorate vying for
influence with the 26th July movement. But, nontheless, there was one
MAIN organization widely seen as THE leadership. This is not (yet)
the case in Iraq. 

2. While the armed attacks in the "Sunni triangle" are certainly the
most spectacular acts of resistance against the occupation, I think
it is wrong to dismiss the majority Shia regions as "standing on the
side lines". According to what I know, the Shia oriented areas are
much more advanced in self-organization, in doing their own thing,
independent of the occupying powers, although it would probably be
exaggerated to call it a situation of dual power. But there IS a
power challenging the authority of the occupation regime, and this is
much more visible than the forces behind the armed attacks in the
Baghdad area. 

3. Finally one shold not overlook the efforts to rebuild a working
class movement, trade unions, workers parties etc, which has recently
been reported also on this list. 

   In the end, an independent working class movement will be decisive
for the fight against imperialism. 


Yours, 
Lüko Willms 
Frankfurt/Main 
/ Lueko.Willms@xxxxxxxxxxx 




~~~~~~~
PLEASE clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.