[Marxism] The Politics of War

[Anthony Boynton <northbogota@xxxxxxxxx>]

The Politics of War

We all know that "War is politics by other means", but
a new twist to the old rule looks like it is in the
making. The Bush administration looks like it plans to
temporarily reduce troop levels in Iraq, during the
2008 election year, to improve the Repbulican Party's
chances of winning the elections.

The plan could work. After all, Richard Nixon ? the
archest Repubilcan of his day ? ordered the USA out of
Viet Nam, thereby deflating the anti-war movement in
the United States and undermining the "peace"
pretensions of Democrats during elections.

The article below, from today's NYT indicates what's
up.

Anthony

Generals Differ on the Timing of Troop Cuts
By DAVID S. CLOUD and STEVEN LEE MYERS, NYT: August
25, 2007

WASHINGTON, Aug. 24 ? As the Bush administration mulls
options for withdrawing forces in Iraq, fault lines
are beginning to emerge in a debate between commanders
in the field who favor slow reductions and senior
generals at the Pentagon who favor cutting the number
of combat troops more deeply.

A woman in the Baghdad neighborhood of Huriya after
82nd Airborne Division members ran into her home
during a search.

Among others, Gen. Peter Pace, the chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Gen. George W. Casey Jr.,
the Army chief of staff, are said to be leaning toward
a recommendation that steep reductions by the end of
2008, perhaps to half of the 20 combat brigades now in
Iraq, should be the administration?s goal.

Such a drawdown would be deeper and faster than Gen.
David H. Petraeus, the top commander in Iraq, is
expected to recommend next month, administration
officials said.

?If you?re out in Baghdad you might have a different
priority for where you want the troops,? an
administration official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity because the White House has not authorized
public remarks on the options being considered.

It has been known since the spring that the White
House was considering options for reducing combat
forces in Iraq by almost half in 2008, which could
bring overall troop levels below 100,000. But the
shape of the debate is only beginning to emerge.

Full article at
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/25/washington/25policy.html?th=&adxnnl=1&emc=th&adxnnlx=1188




      
____________________________________________________________________________________
Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect.  Join Yahoo!'s user panel 
and lay it on us. http://surveylink.yahoo.com/gmrs/yahoo_panel_invite.asp?a=7 


________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism