RE: [Marxism] Should the Iraqi resistance resume the 50-yearwarbetween Iraq and "Iraqi" Kurdistan ? Or, In defense of the "well-known national liberalism of Comrade Lenin"

["Fred Feldman" <ffeldman@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

  Jose says I portray a fantastic war of Iraq against Kurdistan that is
not taking place.  I certainly never suggested it was taking place.  I
also strongly think it should not take place.  In my opinion, Jose
clearly suggested such a war in his earlier comments, particularly his
carrying on about "national suicide" and so on. I do not think the Iraqi
people should be called on to execute the "national suicide" of the
Kurdish leaders.  I think such a war would be ruinous for both peoples
and of great benefit to imperialism.

  Jose, on the other hand, imagines that Kurdistan does not exist (only
"CIA-distan").  This has nothing to do with reality.  He claims that
Kurdish autonomy is not an issue.  That is imaginary.  The fact is that
Kurdistan is autonomous of Iraq today, and the vast majority of Kurds
know it and want to maintain it and become independent.

 Jose claims I advocate autonomy for Kurdistan.  Not true.  I believe
that Iraq (which means at present the Iraqi resistance of various types)
should recognize the independence of Kurdistan.  I think that this would
weaken the current Kurdish leadership, weaken the US position in Iraq
and Kurdistan, divide the Kurdish people between supporters and foes of
the US, and strengthen the military position of the resistance.

 I believe that the example of Finland, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, and
Estonia -- where Lenin's regime granted independence to countries that
were under reactionary and counterrevolutionary leadership -- is
actually a better tactical example of how to go forward in this
situation than Georgia.  I also note that Lenin never justified the
actions in Georgia by claiming that the Georgians had committed
"national suicide" or portraying the country as "occupied Russian
territory."

 Jose imagines that there may be a Che Guevara in Islamic robes leading
the resistance.  The resistance is led by the Iraqi bourgeoisie and its
political currents at this point.  And their stance on Kurdistan has to
do with their desire to maintain their control and exploitation of the
Kurdish people and territory, not with a fanciful refusal to have
anything to do with the CIA or other US government bodies.

Jose describes the "nonexistent" Kurdistan as "occupied Iraqi
territory."  I noted that there are only 300 coalition troops there as
opposed to 135,000 in the rest of Iraq. Does Jose think that any Kurd in
"CIA-distan" thinks of Kurdistan as Iraqi territory today? How do you
plan to convince them that that is what they are living on? The reason
the US imperialists keep so few troops in Kurdistan is that the Kurdish
population thinks they have attained their national goal, while the
Iraqis feel their national sovereignty have been stripped from them.

A policy of reconquering Kurdistan (which, given his parallel with
Georgia, Jose still seems to favor in some form) would bring the Kurdish
masses into the war on the US side.  That would be national suicide for
all concerned.  I strongly favor, on principled and practical grounds, a
policy of concessions to Kurdish nationalism, not war against it.

I believe all the other examples and ideas I cited are totally relevant.


And, yes, I repeat that there is  a tendency on the list toward
tough-guy arrogant strutting on the national question (the constant
citing of Georgia as the model for handling almost every national
question that comes down the pike, and the consistent dismissal of other
examples from the October revolution as irrelevant is a form of this.) I
think we have now experienced enough disasters for our side (Yugoslavia,
Kuwait, Afghanistan, the occupation of Iraq) to make an effort to start
getting this question right, because we do not have tend to have it
right at the moment.

I consider what I have written to be a contribution to getting there,
and not the final answer.
Fred Feldman


_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism