Lenin vs Johann Hari. posted by Richard Seymour

I've recently corresponded with Johann Hari regarding his recent article for The Independent, and he has agreed in principle to a debate on the matter. I understand he'll be sending flocks of young social-democrats from Harry's Place over here to nibble at my ankles, so I'll just quickly cut, paste and edit the argument here:

I suppose I must be in a peculiar mood, because I
read your article "We
Should Build on Our Successes in Iraq and
Afghanistan, Not Decry Them"
several times and was still left ranting "what the
hell does he mean by 'we'
and 'our'?"

But I want to take up one or two things about your
article if I may. And
then if you respond, I'll probably plaster the
correspondence all over my
website. Hope
you're up for it:

"[T]he grotesque, racist idea that Iraqis cannot be
democrats because they
are primitive tribal people has already been proved
wrong".

In fact, I agree that this idea is racist, but
aren't there other good
reasons for believing that we are not about to see a
democracy emerge in
Iraq? One of the most reputed writers on Islam and
the West, Sami Zubaida,
(who happens to be my lecturer), has given me
reasons for doubting this
(purely from a pragmatic, Weberian point of view on his part).

The first is that when elections are held, the
"combination of social and
ideological forces now contending for mastery in the
coming Iraqi state"
include some serious nutballs, a fact attested to
not just by the
ultra-violence of Muqtadr's boys, but also by the
proposition by the IGC to
place Iraqi family law under the Shari'a. The
proposal came from Bremer's
chosen mouthpiece, Muhsin Abdul Hamid, the leader of
the Iraqi Islamic Party
(i.e. the Muslim Brotherhood). Hamid is President
of the IGC throughout
February.

Now, you correctly point out that this isn't because
Iraqis are inclined
toward fanaticism. No, it is precisely because any
administration left in
charge of such a divided nation will require a
comfort zone for
authoritarian control. Isn't this also the reason
why the CIA are
recreating the Iraqi Secret Police?

"The presence of a powerful secret police ... will
mean that the new Iraqi
political regime will not stray outside the
parameters that the US wants to
set," said John Pike, an expert on classified
military budgets at the Global
Security organisation. "To begin with, the new Iraqi
government will reign
but not rule."

( http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/01/04/1073151210964.html )

But, as Sami points out, those currently touting
authoritarian and religious
solutions to Iraq's enormous problems are "the same
formations are best
placed to mobilise votes and intimidate dissidents,
while political parties
and civil associations have not had the chance to
build up constituencies."

( http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-2-95-1737.jsp )

Incidentally, not all polling evidence tallies with
your findings as you
must be aware:

"Only 2 out of 5 believe democracy can work in
Iraq." - Zogby Poll.
(NBC25, November 19th, 2003)

Of 553 polled, only 129 agreed that Iraq should be
run as a US-style
democracy, most preferring a regime like Syria,
Saudi Arabia, Iran or Egypt.
- Zogby Poll.
( http://www.taemag.com/docLib/20030905_IraqpollFrequencies.pdf )

I suggest that you have rendered the situation
"clearer than true" (in Dean
Acheson's phrase) by presenting matters as you have.

Breaking into the e-mail at this point, I want to stipulate that I don't disagree with Johann that Iraqis should have direct elections. This is, after all, supposed to be the only real benefit from this war - Iraqis are supposed to be freed from a brutal despot and given some chance to control their own affairs. I don't believe that this would legitemise the war, but it would absolutely be worthwhile if somewhat inadequate. Elections, however, will not always produce results congruent with America's interest in the country - isn't this why Karbala is being denied its provincial elections, causing four of its members to resign in disgust? Isn't it also the explanation for the constant procrastination on elections, since Paul Bremer has indicated to al-Arabiya that direct elections may not be workable for at least 15 months? Purely pragmatic reasons, of course ... yes, I'm sure their motives are pure.


As for Afghanistan, relying on evidence from those
who have managed to
secure themselves in the "safe zones" is such an
obvious debasement of
journalistic standards that I'm surprised it doesn't
happen more often.

And once again, let me break in and supplement this with a few additional points. First and foremost, Johann acknowledges the multiplicity of horrors and atrocities currently assailing Afghanistan, and I won't add to what he has said on this. What I think he hasn't acknowledged is that there was an alternative to bombing Afghanistan which would have provided America with an enormous early boost in a campaign against terrorism that was worth its name, and which would have avoided the demonstrably baleful effects of dropping bombs on human beings and blockading food to a starving country. It has been obvious for some time, although rarely acknowledge by pro-war commentators, that Afghanistan was prepared to extradite bin Laden . Why was this not pursued and amplified - if only to save countless thousands from airborne death? A US official has been quoted as saying that 'casting the objectives too narrowly would risk a premature collapse of the international effort if by some lucky chance Mr bin Laden were captured'. (FT, 20 September, p. 7)

Back to the e-mail:

"[T]he goal of the left has always been to side with
oppressed people."

Johann, I don't know when you decided that the
United States Government had
become the voice of the oppressed, but let's just
knock this idea on the
head once and for all.

Your thesis is, I think, that the priorities of the
US have changed, as a
result of September 11th, that they have woken up to
the reality that
supporting Middle Eastern despots will eventually
blowback on them. I
think, however, that what is more likely is that
neoconservative
intellectuals and blowhards (whom you despise) have
gained more influence.
Interestingly, those calling loudest in the Bush
administration for the
democratisation of the Middle East are hardcore
neoconservatives such as
Michael Ledeen, and former LaRouche backers like
Laurent Muriawec. But I
hope it's transparently obvious that their notion of
democracy is probably
at variance with that of the vast majority of the
human race. On the other
hand, I don't think strategic considerations changed
that much after 9/11.
Donald Rumsfeld, we now know, took the opportunity
afforded by the collapse
of the twin towers to demand that his underlings
find a way to pin this on
Iraq - pursuing a policy that he and his
intellectual colleagues (if I may
speak loosely) had been dreaming up for years. ( http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/04/september11/main520830.shtml )

The
Project for the New
American Century is absolutely eloquent on this
point, and also quite
specific in its aims and intentions ("to fight, and
decisively win, a series
of major theatre wars").
( www.newamericancentury.org )

According to Harvard Middle East historian Roger
Owen, the Iraq invasion
ought to be regarded as the "exemplary" war of the
National Security
Strategy. It was conducted as a test-case of the
new doctrine, and such a
doctrine will necessarily generate more
interventions:

"Demonstration by example will have to go on for
some long time. And, as is
the way with such things, each American success will
be contested, each new
venture accompanied by a reliance as much on
America's political and
economic power aided by fierce diplomatic arm
twisting, as on its military
might alone."
( http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/632/op57.htm)

If it were really down to the United States to
determine who gets democracy,
where and when, and if we could trust them with the
disposal of such an
important task, we now know they could have had
everything they allegedly
wanted without war. The New York Times has now told
us, with characteristic
bravery after the event, that Saddam's negotiators
had actively sought the
attention of leading US neoconservatives urging the
administration into war
(Richard Perle among them), offering everything they
could have asked for.
Namely, a cut of the oil, cooperation in the "war on
terror", and end to
support for the families of Palestinian suicide
bombers, a US search team to
enter Iraq and look themselves for weapons of mass
destruction, and finally,
elections within two years (which the US would have
been in a perfect
position to oversee). The US negotiators took this
seriously, as did Perle
himself. The CIA said "tell them we'll see them in
Baghdad".

( http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.htmlres=FB0617F63C5D0C758CDDA80994DB404482 )

In short, for their unwillingness to pursue
alternatives, their cold-hearted
and determined decision to pursue a policy they had
decided on some years
ago, Iraqis have just paid a terrible human cost at
the hands of a team whom
you, rightly, despise. 20-30,000 dead, I think, is
the latest tally.
Recall the horror of 9/11 and multiply it
accordingly (I don't think that's
really possible, but you get the idea). None of
those deaths need have
occurred, nor need any of the consequent killings of
US & British soldiers,
UN employees, International Red Cross workers etc.

"Iraqis and Afghans know that these wars were not
fought primarily for their
rights. They are nonetheless telling us that, for
them, vast improvements
and real hope have been born in the past two years.
I side with them. The
achievements since 2001 need to be built on, not
derided."

Based on a selective presentation of evidence you
are alleging the Iraqis
and Afghans are grateful for the effects on their
lives. As you know
perfectly well, Iraqis and Afghanis are telling a
considerably more complicated story than you aver. Even if what you
were suggesting was true,
you would merely be confirming an old moral truism
that evil actions can
have good consequences. If you are not prepared to
consider the evil
effects of the war alongside the putative
advantages, then you will be
unlikely to reach a reliable evaluation of the
evidence. And, as ever, your
charge against Noam Chomsky and John Pilger that
they have given the benefit
of the doubt to "anti-American" regimes rebounds to
your disfavour - in
everything you have so far written about this war,
you have conferred on the
US-UK axis a greater moral authority than you would
any other nation-state.

End of e-mail.

If anyone has any doubt as to the latter point, imagine someone writing in the New York Times circa 1979 that there was "great anxiety" about whether the Soviet Union was serious about its concern for workers' democracy in Afghanistan. It seems to me that Chomsky's USP has always been to point out that the kind of credulity afforded by perfectly intelligent reporters toward their own states, while not vindicating the enemy-of-the-month, certainly suggested a strong propaganda bias in the mainstream media. I don't think we could have asked for a more elegant example than the above.

Your move, Johann. By the way, I won't bother responding to any trolls making use of the comments feature unless I can think up a reasonable witticism. I am, however, interested in a civilised, level-headed discussion, and I will take an active interest in what you all write. That's just the kind of dead mixture of bone and skin I am. Cheers.