[Marxism] U.S. draws the line in Lebanon - don't overthrow the government

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> The U.S., in contrast, believes that the IDF should not withdraw  
> until an international force is ready to replace it.
>
> However, American officials also stressed in their talks with  
> Israeli counterparts that the administration is committed to  
> ensuring the survival of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's  
> government, and this commitment will be a determining factor in its  
> decisions.
>
> http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/748019.html


In the short run, Israel and the U.S. are winning this war. Israel  
can destroy the buildings, expel the population, blow up the tunnels,  
and lay new ground mines for such a time as it may leave. This is the  
dialectical opposite of Marxism. Imperialism with a Marxist face is  
the military destruction of a society. It is as close as it can get  
to fascism, which in this case it doesn't need - for it has Israel.

It doesn't care that it is creating new opposition among the masses.  
For Israel and the U.S. are also intimidating the governments in the  
region who are scrambling not to oppose imperialism (which includes  
Israel) but to wipe the egg of its collective faces.

If in the long run, the most likely outcome is totalitarian  
fundamentalist regimes that repress democratic rights, in particular  
secular democratic political structures that could overturn national  
governments. That's a solution that the U.S. and Europe can live with.

It probably prefers it. It was satisfied with Afghanistan, until its  
client took in Al Qaeda and Bin Laden. Even this was probably  
acceptable; after all in the long run it provided sufficient  
legitimacy for the "regime change" that the imperialist class  
favored, as exemplified by Bill Clinton then and both Bill and  
Hillary Clinton today. Regime change was designed to prevent Europe  
from insinuating itself with Hussein and his oil and proffered  
economic advantages. It also had the advantage of allowing the U.S.  
to take over Iraq oil and establish its own military bases in the  
heart of the Middle East. That remains the plan of U.S. imperialism,  
which is suffering no breaks in its ranks other than the normal  
frizzle and demagoguery necessary to maintain rule.

What's next? Sooner or later the war has to be paid for. A great  
campaign can be waged to partially reverse the tax breaks given by  
the Bushites. There's a victory for the Democratic Party! Make the  
rich pay -- a little.

Meanwhile the occupation in some form will continue.


Brian Shannon



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