Re: RE:[Marxism] Saddam and Baathists vs radical Iraqi nationalism

["David Quarter" <davidquarter@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

From:                   "Michael Karadjis" <mkaradjis@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>

>
> David Quarter wrote:
>
> >there are members of Fatah hiearchy who would happily jump off a bridge for
> the  U.S. >if asked. >
> >
>  > If he (Arafat) was such the die hard revolutionary that you present him
> to be
> > (and that he was in his younger days) , he would have never
> > "cooperated" with the U.S. adminstration and the  Israeli
> > government in the first place. Let me restate that: he would never
> > even envisaged cooperating! He would have not allowed the CIA to
> > train the Palestinian police, nor accepted" advise by the CIA boss
> > on carrying out the previous land transfer agreement signed with
> > the Israelis.
> >
> > He would have  also distanced himself from his closest
> > advisor/allies within Fatah, cosy witht the U.S. elite, for example,
> > Hannah Ashrawi for her membership within the Council of Foreign
> > Relations (which FYI counts Bush senior, Wesley Clark, and
> > Clinton as members).
> >
> > I don't see it as coincidence that Arafat and  folks like  Saed
> > Erakat, Ashrawi, have so far been spared having their body riddled
> > with bullets  by the ZIonist death squads.
> >
> That's all a bit rich.
> Now, I'm no big fan of Arafat's manuvres, though given the condition of
> having no state to begin with, I suspect some unpalatable manures are
> inevitable.

Right. Which goes to show that this isn't about individuals, which
some folks on this list seem to suggest...

 But whatever one's judgement of them, it is way beyond the pale
> to compare someone who has deicated his life and many times risked having it
> riddled with bullets, to some tyrant former imperialist hit-man who fell out
> with his bosses.

 It's besides the point that Saddam is/was a tyrant. His regime
defended Iraq against U.S. imperialism for more than a decade. If
he was such the quisling/coward, etc, that he his made to be, he
would have fled the country early after his falling out of favour with
the U.S. Against enormous pressure, he decided to stay.

Is it conceivable that a "former imperialistr hit-man" can be
transformed into a anti imperialist hit man?

I think so.


> It is quite true that Hussein could have done more to capitulate in the
> 1990's, and its to his credit that he didn't (eg recognise Israel). No doubt
> imperialism had it in for him not because of his tryranny but because any
> powerful bourgeois Arab nationalist state was a latent threat to a Middle
> East where the US strategy for domination rested on the twin pillars of
> israel and the Saudi/Gulf princes.
>
> However, even in his three weeks of resistance early this year, his life was
> never on the line.>>>>

According  to what??? Were the U.S. dropping him flowers?
Greeting cards? No. They put an enormous bounty on his head.


 How do you compare this with a guy that stayed in Beiruit
> the whole summer of 1982, and then 20 years later did the same in Ramallah
> as Israeli bombs landed all around his bunker.>>>>

a)  I'm not disputing Arafat's boldness/balls in his younger years.

 b) I don't see the difference with Arafat now and Saddam now,
except that Saddam has been marked for death for a while? The
Israelis --
as bold and disobedeint as they can be at times-- would NEVER
even comtemplate killing Arafat.

They know who butters their bread...


 Whatever I might think of his
> politics, a bit of humility following Ramallah is in order from western
> lefties in my opinion.
>
> As for Hanan Ashrawi, whatever her reasons>>>

Whatever her reasons?

 for being on the Council of
> Foreign Relations, she certainly delivered a powerful Palestinian message to
> thousands of people in Australia during her recent visit, despite the
> disgusting Zionist campaign against her.>>>>

And so has Jesse Jackson delivered powerful messages. Big deal.
Both are members of the CFR.

The CFR weilds tremendous authority on U.S foreign policy,
including in the middle east.




DOQ

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