Bob,
yes GLW did support UN intervention into East Timor. The reason for this
was made clear in a number of articles (which I hope you took the time to
read, and not just the Australian Sparticist coverage of the issues).
At no time did any of the article in GLW down play the imperialist nature
of the UN, what we did focus on was whether the working class in East
Timor would be helped in this particular case by the intervention of the
UN. In the case of East Timor, the working class were being annilated.
They could not defend themselves, Falintil was in disarray and under
armed.
To "on principle" reject UN intervention into East Timor because it is an
imperialist tool is dogmatic and I have to admit that I am getting sick
and tied of people who from their warm safe homes who aren't having
their immediate family raped and killed, preaching about socialist
absolutes and principles.
Lenin warns against this dogmatism in Left Wing Communism: An Infantile
Disorder. In Left Wing Communism, Lenin cites the "on principle"
opposition to negotiating the Brest-Litovsk Treaty with imperialists to
bring peace between Russia and Germany. Lenin says "to reject compromises
"on principle", to reject permissiability of compromises in general, no
matter what kind, is childishness, which it is difficult even to consider
seriously. A political leader who desires to be useful to the
revolutionary proletriat must be able to distinguish concrete cases of
compromises that are inexcusable and are an expression of opportunism and
treachery...."
He continues: "There are different kinds of compromises. One must be able
to analyse the situation and the concrete conditions of each compromise,
or of each variety of compromise. One must be learn to distinguish
between a man who has given up his money and fire-arms [Lenin is refering
to an example he had given earlier] to bandits so as to lessen the evil
they can do and to facilitate their capiture and execution, and a man who
gives his money and fire arms to bandits so as to share in his loot. In
politics his is by no means always as elementary as it is inthis
childishly simple example. However, anyone who is out to think up for the
workers some kind of recipe that will provide them with cut and dried
solutions for all contingencies, or promises that the policy of the
revolutionary proletariate will come up against diffucult or complex
situations, is simply a charltan".
The demand for UN intervention was a tactical one which was one not made
for the benefit of imperialism, but instead for the benefit of the East
Timorese working class. The Australian government did everything in its
power to stall, and to continue "business as usual" with the Indonesian
government. It did not want to send troops in and only did so when its
hands was forced by tens of thousands of people on the streets.
In his polemic against Kautsky and in Socialism and War, Lenin argues that
socialists need to look at whether particular wars benefit imperialist
powers or the working class struggle. If they do not then socialists can
and should support them. This is the case with East Timor ... UN
intervention went against 24 years of Indonesian and Australian
imperialist policy. Without it, Indonesia would have continued its
scorched earth policy of murder and destruction.
But I guess that would have been okay, because then dogmatists could say
"well, isn't it terrible that the East Timorese were massacred, but at
least we stuck to our principles ..., we have a cut and dried absolutist
position that says no compromises with imperialism, to bad this meant that
any chance of working class revolution that may have exist will not occur
now because there is no working class because they have all been massacre.
But hey, we did stick to our 'on principle' objections".
Kim B
On Mon, 24 Jan 2000, Bob Malecki wrote:>
> ----------
> > From: Rob Schaap <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> > Subject: M-TH: Re: "Kosova revisionists let NATO off the hook"
> Yeah, and in what context? Because the Green Lefdt Weekly has been very
> busy itself with supporting imperialist intervention by its "boys" in
> Indonesia. And did support a UN intervention in Kosovo. So there crying
> fake leftist tears today for the hysteric campaigns drummed up to pull of
> this stuff does not let them off for there pro imperialist line. These
> people really are the little drummer boys for imperialism in my opinion.
>
> Warm Regards
> Bob Malecki
>
>
> --- from list [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---
>
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