Gilbert Achcar on the Iraqi elections

[Louis Proyect <lnp3@xxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks to Michael Yates for calling my attention to Gilbert Achcar's
musings on the coming Iraqi elections at:

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=15&ItemID=6948

It is simply dreadful.

Basically, Achcar tries to make the case that there is a de facto
conspiracy between Washington and the "resistance" (the scare quotes are
his) to undermine the elections:

>>This means, incidentally, that any unqualified support for the "Iraqi
resistance" as a whole in Western countries, where the antiwar movement is
badly needed, is utterly counter-productive as much as it is deeply wrong
(when paved with good political intentions). There should be a clear-cut
distinction between anti-occupation acts that are legitimate and acts by
so-called "resistance" groups that are to be denounced. One very obvious
case in point are the sectarian attacks by Al-Zarqawi group against Shias.
This being said, it has been clear until now that the most fruitful
strategy in opposing the occupation is the one led by Sistani, and that
attempts at derailing the elections and de-legitimizing them in advance can
only play into the hands of the US occupation.<<

To begin with, the antiwar movement should *never* get involved in
cherry-picking of this sort. Its focus must be on demanding immediate
withdrawal from Iraq, not setting itself up as a Roger Ebert of resistance
tactics. One thumb up for "legitimate" attacks on Humvees. One thumb down
for suicide bombs that cause collateral damage of civilians. There is a
sterile propagandistic logic to all this as it would transform the antiwar
movement into a kind of Greek chorus on the unfolding events in Iraq. Our
focus should be on the USA, not Iraq. We have to figure out a way to
maximize participation in the streets, not how to make ourselves acceptable
to polite, middle-class opinion.





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