[Marxism] Re: [Three Way Fight blog] Defending My Enemy's Enemy

["Mike Friedman" <mikedf@xxxxxxxx>]

> On 8/5/06, Mike Friedman <mikedf at amnh.org> wrote:
>> As the July 31 MERIP report "Hizballah: A Primer" indicates, the Islamic
>> Republic of Iran neither runs Hezbollah, nor constitutes it's "political
>> ideal." Rather, Hezbollah is an independent, home-grown and nationalist
>> formation. One must ask: has Hezbollah DONE any of the things Lyons tries
>> to slander them with by association with the Islamic Republic? One
>> important point made in the MERIP piece is that Ayotollah Khameini
>> constitutes the SPIRITUAL -- but not the POLITICAL guide for Hezbollah.
>> And, as Lyons admits in his article, Hezbollah has "acknowledged"
>> pluralism in Lebanon (actually it goes much further than that, according
>> to the MERIP report). The MERIP report also points out that Hezbollah has
>> fought privatization and the neo-liberal agenda in Lebanon.

> Yes, but, in the wider world beyond the immaterial world of left-wing
> sects whom we can safely ignore, what matters is money and weapons,
> from the POV of those who want to see Hizballah destroyed:

> It is Tehran's financial and military aids to Hizballah that the Tel
> Aviv-Washington axis is going after -- the aids that we can't deny.
> I've yet to hear anything that makes sense from any leftist on this
> question.
-- 
> Yoshie

What you should have said is "I've yet to hear anything NEW from any
leftist..." because these are all old issues that are being argued here.
Your point is merely rhetorical narcissism: basically you like to see your
fine polemical words in print and drawing a reaction. But, substantively,
the issue is raised anytime a nationalist movement -- be it of the secular
or Islamic flavor -- obtains weapons from a (from a subjective
perspective) dubious source. Nothing new there. If I were in Hezbollah or
any resistance struggling against imperialist agression, I think I would
get weapons wherever I could. I don't think we actually disagree on this
point. Your point about "it is Tehran's financial and military aids..." is
a red herring. It is not at issue in this discussion. The character of
Hezbollah, which you have defended, and how to approach it via solidarity,
is. You just want to argue.


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