[Marxism] Tariq Ali

[abu hartal <abuhartal@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Michael

Don't see reason for skepticism of putting plan into action when so much had 
already been done. Remains more plausible to say that NATO only accelerated the 
program of ethnocide.
Don't get point about internal refugees as most  would have eventually fled and 
destabilized Macedonia. The ethnic cleansing would have only  taken longer. 
Don't see what Milosevic would have offered in the absence of the use of force.
Things were going to become infinitely worse whether there was NATO bombing or 
inaction and passivity. 

Brilliantly put, this:

"Of course Milosevic's actions in expelling half the Kosova population
from their country were contemptible, and yes that did lead NATO to much
heavier and more inhumane bombing in its blunt effort to get them back
(just as NATO's initial bombing led to Belgrade's actions). NATO did nit
do this for humanitarian purposes buy because it does not want Gaza in
Europe, does not want giant Sabra-Shatilla camps in Europe. Well,
neither do we. But that poses the question, which you seem to be posing:
if NATO's original bombing was unjustified and created the problem, was
the stepping up of the bombing to get the refugees back, once driven out
as a result of their actions, then justified.

If you argue it was, you have the problem of how to justify horrific
anti-humanitarian actions supposedly in order to reverse someone else's
horrific anti-humanitarian actions. In my books, bombing Serbian working
people can never be justified. They are not the enemy of Albanian
working people. The entire crisis had been made worse by NATO action."

Yes the bombing of civilians is horrific. I am reading Sven Lindquist's book on 
bombing in my research on WWI. By the way, the entire crisis would have also 
become infinitely worse  had NATO not made those horrible strikes. 

I also do not think NATO took action in order to create an autonomous Kosova 
which could house a US military base which could protect some small segment of 
a pipeline in which Milosevic could have easily been given an economic stake. 
That would have been cheaper. 

AH 
_________________________________________________________________
Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! Download today it's FREE!
http://messenger.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200471ave/direct/01/
________________________________________________
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