Re: [Marxism] Supporting all anti-imperialists?

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

(First on a technical note. DoC, you have to define a line limit in your
mailer--as should everybody. When I tried to reply to your post, your
lines went off to the extreme righthand margin. 72 is a good number.)

DoC:
When assessing whether to support action by an anti-imperialist group -
surely we must assess both their objective circumstance and their
strategy for struggle. If they have a poor strategy but a worthy cause
we might choose not to support them and instead support another
anti-imperialist group with a better strategy.

REPLY:
This is not the same thing as deciding whether or not to support the
Provos against the Official IRA based on awarding points as if in a TV
show based on competition between various revolutionary groups. (Not
that this would be a good idea to start with.) As anybody would
immediately understand, any wing of the IRA would be supported against
the British troops. They are on our side of the class divide. The
Militant coverage on Iraq is another story altogether. They view the
guerrillas as counter-revolutionaries, like the Nicaraguan contras,
UNITA or the Renamo bandits in Mozambique. Even though we don't have
evidence of a coherent program from this resistance, it appears to me
that several things can be observed at this point. I should add that my
observations are drawn from a wide variety of reports from the mass media.

1. The fighters are contemptuous of Saddam Hussein and had no connection
to him or other top Baathist officials. The fact that Saddam was not
protected by armed detachments should indicate that he has never been a
real factor.

2. They have been driven into action by a combination of US cruelty and
a failure of the occupiers to deliver a modicum of relief from
joblessness, inadequate water and electricity, etc.

3. They have simple nationalist ideas that amount to to a desire that
Iraq not be ruled by outsiders.

Whether or not it advances beyond this stage is problematic. However, it
is enough to warrant our support right now. Not that I would advocate
slogans like "Support the resistance". "Bring the Troops Home Now" is
much more effective.

DoC:
More importantly and really to the point, you say that even if the
resistance is calling 'for nothing more than the ouster of the USA'
you'd be for it. Yet, that's precisely the issue. Is the strategy, is
the relationship between base and movement going to be enough to allow
for that outcome? A purely military strategy is insufficient. Using your
same logic a marxist might find himself or herself supporting any group
of anti-imperialists who 'call for' an anti-imperialist outcome. If you
were living in a colonial country you would see the madness of that.
Aside from backing no-hopers, how many times have we seen
anti-imperialists fall far short of what we had wished for? How many
bloodbaths of true revolutionaries have we seen around the world.

REPLY:
Well, a military strategy can produce results, even in the absence of
achieving "what we wished for". For example, the USA was forced out of
both Lebanon and Somalia. The stakes were much lower in these instances,
but in Iraq they are very, very high as Paul Flewers pointed out. For
the purposes of world revolution, it is absolutely necessary that
Washington's war aims be blocked. Even if the regime that came to power
in Iraq had all the same problems as the one that was "changed", it
would still be good for Venezuela, Cuba, North Korea and every other
country in the USA's gunsights. We have no power to effect how North
Korea is governed. We do have power to make it difficult for the US to
invade. If a combination of military intractibility in Iraq and domestic
opposition in the USA and Great Britain lead to a withdrawal of foreign
troops, that would be a big victory for humanity. Make no mistake about
that.

DoC:
Whilst blowing up US troops might be entirely to one's aesthetical
tastes, it might not be appropriate or the most effective strategy for
getting them out. I feel that the strategy of a group and its political
orientation, relationship to the base are key factors in determining
whether to 'support' a group.

REPLY:
There is no "group" in Iraq to support or not to support. All we have to
do is recognize that the USA is an imperialist power trying to
recolonize a Mideastern country in order to exploit its oil and use it
as a gendarme against revolution in neighboring countries, just like the
Shah's Iran once did. To stand neutral between the US army and the Iraqi
guerrillas is the mark of cowards, scoundrels and complete imbeciles as
Trotsky put it.

--

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