Re: [OT] free Cindy Sheehan!

[tom walker <lumpoflabour@xxxxxxxx>]

I first heard "the enemy of my enemy" described as a
traditional south asian political truism that
explained why it was possible for the English to
colonize India -- England was every other local
ruler's "friend".

Sandwichman

--- Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> Jim Devine wrote:
> >
> >
> > this is proof, once again, that Chairman Mao's
> dictum that "the enemy
> > of my enemy is my friend" is total and utter BS.
>
> I don't remember Mao saying exactly that. I do
> remember something like
> it, though I can't remember the exact wording, and
> when I read it I both
> disagreed and _also_ saw, in the context in which he
> said it, that it
> made some sense. Something like it was, of course,
> the foundation of the
> United Front Against the Japanese invacion. And it
> is easy to make up
> hypothetical (but reasonable) situations in which it
> holds. If a
> purse-snatcher scares off a would-be rapist, for
> example. I would say
> the dictum (as you phrase it) is neither right nor
> wrong in the
> abstract. Its whole meaning depends on context.
>
> Carrol
>







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