Some Notes on Iraq

Some preconditions for to consider before coming to a position vis d vis Bush's U.N. backed imperial venture, (or possibly, the Crusades revisited). 1. The first issue is the question of who we are. This is adressed to those of who see ourselves as socialists. Some of us are Marxists... with a number of variations. It becomes harder and harder to determine what an constitutes since the state broke the Movement(s) of the 60's up: and since the Movement dissolved due to a variety of centrifugal, internal forces. What resulted was, to all intents and purposes, two major splits, each of which was composed of a variety of, for lack of a better word, tendencies. One confluence of factions were academics, most of whom seemed to get lost in theoretical mazes, beginning to make the long march, so to speak, through academic institutions. The other conglomerate of factions, spores, encapsulated themselves in various sectarian movements. All groupings tended to focus on single issues, stressing a variety of differences: some supported the national and cultural self-determinism of oppressed peoples, others backed religious self determination, feminism, gender differences, and so forth. If we still believe in the possibilities of socialism, then what should our stance be in relation to this immediate event (Iraq) and to greater, international developments? Now I am not proposing anything like correct-lineism

Ancient history · Political science · History · Political Economy and Marxism · Politics and Conflicts in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Middle East · Turkey's Politics and Society