Re: [Marxism] False claims re pro-war left

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Dear Louis,
> Have you ever heard of the Interrnational Brigades?
> Perhaps you are too young to know about the principles and history of 
> international left-wing solidarity.
> If the left could aid Republican Spain with arms, I don't see why it can't 
> aid the Iraqi and Iranian left today.
> Yours in comradeship, Peter Tatchell

Peter, who are you trying to bullshit?

When you wrote articles in the Guardian in 2003 calling for the Shia and 
the Kurds to be armed, the only *agency* capable of delivering the goods 
was Anglo-American imperialism. As I see it, Tony Blair and George W. Bush 
are not part of the left even if Blair had some ex-CP'ers in his cabinet 
and Bush had the dreadful Christopher Hitchens rooting him on.

Speaking of Hitchens, he used the same sort of demagogy you did, invoking 
the fight against fascism in the late 30s as if Paul Wolfowitz were a 
latter day Andres Nin. Frankly, Hitchens is much better at this kind of 
deception, or should I call it self-deception:

>>Gen. Franco's assault on the Spanish Republic­an assault that claimed to 
be, and was, a rebel "insurgency" against the elected government­consisted 
of an alliance of fascist parties, religious extremists, and Muslim 
fighters. It was led by the frightened former oligarchy, and its cause was 
preached from the pulpit, and its foot-soldiers were Moorish levies from 
North Africa and "volunteers" from Germany and Italy. How shady it is that 
our modern leftists and peaceniks can detect fascism absolutely everywhere 
except when it is actually staring them in the face. The next thing, of 
course, if we complete the historic analogy, would be for them to sign a 
pact with it. And this, some of them have already done.<<

full: http://www.slate.com/id/2118306/ 


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