Grant Lee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Soula:
In answer to your question, no, I don't read Arabic. I wish I had the
aptitude for languages of someone like Marx (a belated happy 186th to him)
who -- not content with German, Greek, Latin, French, English and
Italian --- was learning Turkish when he died.
"I do not think the occupation forces nor their cronies enjoy a lot of
support in
question.. collaboration with the Americans here will not go away for
centuries.."
We will see.
We are seeing it now... we saw it south
"the place is older than modern imperialism."
On the contrary, "
it is indeed, but that there was 'bilad ma bain al
nahrain' and that the daily conflicts in Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon and the potential volcano of Jordan all attest to the failure of this creation called Iraq on daily basis and what matters is to prove the neocons and the Zionists wrong in the sense that you cannot beat the Arabs on the head without getting hit back because they are a 'lower race.'
You said: "the class formation in 'peripheral capitalism developing in
severe crisis'
is a case of disarticulation wherein economic interests are never so well
formed within a class to break the old social bonds."
I asked: What is a "class" without "well formed" economic interests?
You answered: "that is easy enough: there is so much economic instability in
this
developing market that taking refuge in precapitalist social organisational
forms e.g. tribes etc is essential."
Which forgets the fact that pre-capitalist classes often survive a
transition to
capitalism, utilising tribal links in support of their own
accumulation. And that a modern proletariat -- compared to other Arab
countries --- is relatively well-developed in
nationalist development schemes of the 1960s and 70s.
After 25 years of sanctions and wars in which an estimated more than one million Iraqi died, more than 5% of the population, income was at 30$ a month for 12 years, can we say that there will be a cohesive working class that transcends the boundaries of old social bonds? well again now we have tribes and it seems the tribes have not been bought out yet.
Agreed, the ICP would not be my chosen model for a communist party in the
developing word; it was as prone to
theoretical blindness and tactical
errors as any communist parties during the mid-20th Century. But there is no
doubt that they are well-organized and are probably capable of getting at
least 10% of the popular vote.
I presume now the CIA will buy the votes for them
If I understand you correctly, the communists are a joke, the Iraqi
islamists are incapable of wide support, and you admit that pan-arabism is
virtually dead. And I wouldn't bet my life savings on the Ba'ath!!! So what
do you see as the dominant ideology in
I asked a similar question to a prominent Iraqi human rights activist, I said do you think that the present resistance could organize itself around a progressive social program? he said not soon.. let us wait for the phoenix out of the
ashes.
"the biggest impedement to any arab cp truly becoming a mass party is its
inability to relate culturally to the marginalised and disposessed."
Hmmm. In the first place, Arab CPs have enjoyed significant followings in
the past; second, they don't need to become a mass party in order to wield
the balance of power; third, perhaps the marginalized and dispossessed in
draw their own conclusions.
we do not have to call it communism we need a secular anti imperialist democratic and socially progressive movement that allies all sections of the populations under national symbols that relate culturally to each and everyone call it whatever. you go into an Arab communist party office during the cold war and you see posters from the soviet union etc.. you see a clique of half-educated that consume pig and alcohol in a society where still the physical and the metaphysical go hand in hand..
regards,
Grant.
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