[Marxism] Alan Woods versus James Petras

[Jscotlive@xxxxxxx]

Louis:
 
Unfortunately, he has fallen into the trap of 
comparing phenomena that  have nothing in common and from an erroneous 
comparison he inevitably draws  wrong conclusions
 
Reply:
 
Congratulations. You win first prize for turning the English language into  
spaghetti.
 
Louis:
 
Quoting Petras:
 
âAlmost the entire spectrum of Western opinion makers, including 
all  the major electronic and print media, the major liberal, radical,  
libertarian and conservative web-sites, echoed the oppositionâs claim of  
rampant election fraud. Neo-conservatives, libertarian conservatives and  
Trotskyites joined the Zionists in hailing the opposition protestors as  
the advance guard of a democratic revolution.â

Then writes:
 
Petras repeats the scandalous accusation of the Iranian regime that the  
protests on the streets of Iran are organized by imperialism
 
Reply:
 
Either I've suddenly lost the ability to read English or Petras doesn't  
repeat that at all. Reading the passage again, I believe it's the latter. What 
 he does do, legitimately, is state that everyone on the side of 
imperialism,  including it seems, some 'Lefts', have joined in a chorus of 
hailing the 
 protests as the vanguard of a democratic revolution.
 
Please explain where in the Petras quote above you refer to he suggests  
that the protests in Iran are organized by imperialism. After you're unable 
to,  kindly apologise for smearing the man's reputation. 
 
Louis:
 
The fact that US imperialism has plans for regime change in Tehran does  
not mean the movement is controlled or has been created by the CIA, as  
Petras and some other âLeftsâ claim.
 
Reply:
 
Be interested to know who these mysterious 'Lefts' are. Perhaps they  hate 
our freedoms. I say kill the motherfuckas and let God sort em out.
 
Louis (it gets better folks):
 
There is not the slightest doubt 
that the U.S. is covertly trying to  effect regime-change in Iran, and 
has been doing so for the last three  decades. We know that Washington 
has set up a special fund for this purpose.  We know that the 
imperialists have been trying to demonize Iran, presenting  it as a 
threat to world peace and the stability of the Middle East. 
 
Reply:
 
Sure. That's what imperialists do when they line up a nation for  attack. 
Iraq anyone? A million dead? Saddam, Hitler? Evil  regime? No? Okay, how 
about Afghanistan? Devastated,  remember? Oh, and not so you'd notice, both 
countries happen to share a  border with Iran. 
 
Sanctions, battlefleets, missiles, thousands of troops - all within  
striking distance. But of course, none of that would have any  impact on 
Iranian 
society, wouldn't produce any tension, fear, sense of perhaps  'shit, we're 
next'. Nooo.
 
BBC Word Service Farsi-language broadcasts begun in January this year?  
Complete coincidence. Nothing do with what's going  on.   
 
Louis:
 
But the 
curious thing about the present situation is how circumspect  the 
Americans have been. 
 
Reply:
 
Oh yeah, very circumspect. Obama: 'The Protesters are on the right side of  
history.' Or how about this, reported by the BBC today: 
 
'US President Barack Obama has praised the opposition candidate in Iran's  
disputed presidential election. 
Mr Obama said Mir Hossein Mousavi had captured the imagination of groups in 
 Iran that were interested in opening up to the world.  
He spoke of the bravery of protesters in the face of "outrageous"  
violence.' 
If this is circumspect, I'd hate to see what partisan is. 
Louis: 
By recognizing the âvictoryâ of Ahmadinejad, President Chavez seriously  
damaged the image of the Bolivarian Republic in the eyes of the people  
of Iran 
Reply: 
I don't doubt you're a very resourceful guy, but I'm not sure I can stretch 
 to believing you've been able to fly to Iran and conduct a poll of 70 
million  people in just one week. 
Louis: 
The Marxists will always be on the 
side of the masses of any country in  their struggle against injustice 
and oppression. That is true of Venezuela  and Bolivia â and it is also 
true in Iran.
Reply: 
Well said. Which is why I'm firmly on the side of the majority of those 
poor  and working class Iranians who voted for their President - the ones who 
don't  look like us, dress like us, speak English and have access to Facebook 
or  Twitter. You know, the masses. 
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