[Marxism] Re: Will delinquent nations be invaded? (fwd)

[John Enyang <x03002f@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Following my exchange with Noam Chomsky about his support for the "safe
states strategy" last year, much of which was forwarded to this list,
members of the list may be interested in his reply to my remark about the
apparent sidelining of Wolfowitz to the WB -- attached below.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 11:17:04 -0500
From: Noam Chomsky
To: John Enyang
Subject: Re: Will delinquent nations be invaded?

At 09:59 AM 3/17/2005 -0500, you wrote:

>Interesting that this senior Pentagon figure seems to be taking the same
>trajectory as Robert McNamara, a principal architect of the aggression
>against Vietnam who was moved to the World Bank as the war he was so
>identified with became less tenable for the US.
>
>During the last election, some of the left (like Chomsky for one) seem to
>have attributed almost magical powers to the "Cheney--Rumsfeld--Wolfowitz
>cabal".

No doubt some did, but not me.  That's why I paid so little attention to
PNAC.  What I stressed, repeatedly, was the continuity of policy, though
the "cabal," as you put it, was towards an extreme end of the very narrow
spectrum.


>  The powers ascribed to this clique were used to justify support
>for the democratic candidate who, not being tied to the "cabal" in the
>same way as Bush, constituted the lesser of two evils.

Again, not me.


>  Following this
>argument, we might presumably deduce that since one member of the "cabal"
>is (apparently) soon to make a face saving exit from his policy making
>position in the Bush administration, US imperialism is going to adopt a
>measurably less aggressive posture on a whole bunch of issues... right?

No.  The truth about Wolfowitz is being excellently concealed in the media
reports, at least this morning.  The administration was towards the extreme
end of the narrow political spectrum in its fear and hatred of democracy,
but Wolfowitz was far out at the edge, as well as in his support for
enormous atrocities and corruption.

Personally, I think he'll do less damage in the WB than in the Pentagon --
though judging by the McNamara case, one can hardly be confident.  His
record at the WB is also being obscured.



>J.Enyang
>
>ln3@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> > Bush to Recommend Wolfowitz for World Bank Post
> > By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
> >
> > Published: March 16, 2005
> > Filed at 10:33 a.m. ET
> >
> > WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Bush will recommend that Defense Deputy
> > Secretary Paul Wolfowitz take over as head of the World Bank, a senior
> > administration official said Wednesday.
> >
> > Wolfowitz has been Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's top deputy and a
> > lightning rod for criticism over the U.S. invasion of Iraq and other
> > defense policies.
> >



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