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706 Chechnya - a far off country -- rank: 1000

At 08:48 05/11/99 +0200, you wrote: >>Chris Burford wrote > >The argument is similar to that about Indonesia and East Timor is it not? >>The West is magnanimously lending billions of dollars to Russia ostensibly >>to help liberal democracy but in fact to help the oligarchs. It is already >>intervening massively in the former Soviet Union. There is no way it cannot >>intervene. >> >>It tacitly supported the suppression of the East Timorese for years ...

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Fri Nov 5 15:56:25 PST 1999

707 China to join Group of 8? -- rank: 1000

Schroeder has expressed his support for the idea that China should not only join the WTO but the Group of 8 - presumably to be nine. Who says that global governance is not on the agenda? Chris Burford London

Document Size:	4639
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Fri Nov 5 15:55:26 PST 1999

708 Chechnya - a far off country -- rank: 1000

At 05:09 05/11/99 +1100, you wrote: >>I don't know about others, but, speaking personally, I fear the >>consequences of liberals & leftists in the West paying attention to >>Chechnya more than those of inattention. Medical ethics says, 'do no harm.' > >Surely there's a middle ground here, Yoshie! Hard to harm Chechnya much >more than the Ruskie airforce and artillery are doing. And the sooner it >stops, the sooner we can get back to exploring the intriguing l ...

Document Size:	6382
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Thu Nov 4 15:49:26 PST 1999

709 Actually Existing Socialism -- rank: 1000

At 17:13 03/11/99 >Charles: It was > >g) a little too bureaucratic and eltist, and >therefore not power to all of the people. > >as in your last sentence. That is the error of the trial of formerly ( and actually existing in Cuba) socialism that the working class can use in more definitely projecting what to do the next time< Broadly I agree but this does not deal with the economic question. I suggest a long rear view on the 20th Century is that Lenin's sketch of a mixed m ...

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Wed Nov 3 23:49:26 PST 1999

710 Actually Existing Socialism -- rank: 1000

At 15:33 03/11/99 -0500, you wrote: >Just what was 'actually existing' ('no longer' existing) socialism anyway? >a) socialist, or moving along 'socialist road' >b) capitalist, or moving along 'capitalist road' >c) transition between capitalism & socialism, but not genuinely socialist >d) new socio-economic system neither capitalist nor socialist >e) state capitalism >f) green slime oozing up from underneath earth necessitating that > one clean her/himself off followi ...

Document Size:	5487
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Wed Nov 3 15:57:47 PST 1999

711 Chechnya: Russia's Kosovo -- rank: 1000

>Russia's war, from this distance, looks barbarous & criminal. For my >part, the lesser interest is the result of the fact that it's not my >government that's prosecuting the war, or my media that's lying about >it. > >Doug I agree that is a principled answer, if a limited one. I think the trouble is that to take a stand to support the Chechens in their right to independence, like in East Timor, means calling on the United States to intervene financially and press the IMF t ...

Document Size:	28368
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Wed Nov 3 13:20:35 PST 1999

712 Chechnya - a far off country -- rank: 1000

Why the lack of interest in Chechnya among progressive lef-wingers by comparison with East Timor? It would not have anything to do with the religious and cultural affiliations being the other way round would it? Chris Burford London

Document Size:	4684
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Wed Nov 3 00:06:02 PST 1999

713 Civilian targets "legitimate" -- rank: 1000

The Serbs report that in addition to the 30 civilian deaths on Sunday, there has been an attack on an apartment block in the south of Serbia. They say the deaths total 50 in the last two days. While delaying its detailed response, it was perhaps significant that yesterday the NATO spokesman insisted that the attacks on the sanatorium in Surdelica and the bridge in Navarin were legitimate military targets. There was no response to the questioning of why the bridge was attacked during the middle o ...

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Mon May 31 23:01:40 PDT 1999

714 Ocalan -- rank: 1000

The capture, and the trial starting today, of Ocalan, present serious problems similar to those of the capture of the leader of the Communist Party of Peru. Can subscribers contribute information about the dubious legality of the trial. I understand that one lawyer has had to withdraw and others have major reservations. Obviously Ocalan's statements while a captive at risk of execution, cannot necessarily speak for the movement. Chris Burford London

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Mon May 31 14:03:14 PDT 1999

715 Bosnia, Kosovo, prelude to Soviet Union -- rank: 1000

Paddy Ashdown, leader of the Liberal Democrat Party in Britain has been successful in persuading Tony Blair to intervene in Kosovo, and then to promote the idea of ground troops. On Saturday he argued that Bosnia and Kosovo were mere preludes to the tasks of NATO with the forthcoming implosion of the former Soviet Union. I cannot really see this. I can see Europe expecting to assimilate the Yugoslavia. Yesterday Slovakia just voted in a president sympathetic to the country aligning with the Euro ...

Document Size:	5427
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Mon May 31 14:11:40 PDT 1999

716 Carter's criticism of NATO bombing -- rank: 1000

At 04:06 31/05/99 +1000, you wrote: >A bridge full of cars has just gone up in flames. NATO has shown us the >imaging technology available to NATO pilots. NATO knows we know that the >pilot saw the cars. NATO either thinks we hate everyone in Yugoslavia, or >doesn't give a fuck what we think. > >Fucking war criminals, the lot of 'em. > > >Rob. Sounds there were three incidents yesterday in which Madeleine Albright will be able to congratulate NATO for showing its mo ...

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Mon May 31 11:07:13 PDT 1999

717 Carter's criticism of NATO bombing -- rank: 1000

At 18:57 29/05/99 -0700, adam wrote: >Carter's OpEd piece in the NY Times was a stronger critique than his >position potrayed in the article you reproduce -- I've included it below. <snip> >Have We Forgotten the Path to Peace? > > By JIMMY CARTER <snip> >The United States' insistence on the use of cluster bombs, >designed to kill or maim humans, is condemned almost universally and brings >discredit on our nation (as does our refusal to support a ban o ...

Document Size:	6108
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sun May 30 10:33:57 PDT 1999

718 Carter's criticism of NATO bombing -- rank: 1000

No doubt US citizens have more direct insights into Jimmy Carter's strengths and weaknesses, mainly his weaknesses. From where I stood he seemed to have a naive belief in his own honesty that risked trying to place him above the reality of politics. However this criticism of the war below, although it will certainly not suit all list members, seems to me significant for the future. Carter has taken the role of an expert in peace politics. His criticisms have echoes with those of Paul Rogers, pro ...

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sat May 29 12:57:29 PDT 1999

719 Class structure in the Balkans -- rank: 1000

At 23:57 28/05/99 -0400, Doug quoted: [thread title: Re: NATO shift in bombing strategy] >Guardian - May 29, 1999 > >Shift in bombing a warning to Serbs This article too caught my eye as significant on several points including military developments. It alone should answer the sectarian objection that LBO-talk should be ignored because it does not close its lists to "right wingers" who may be influenced by the Guardian. The Guardian and the Observer have been an important terra ...

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Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Sat May 29 11:20:50 PDT 1999

720 Clinton ordering up 90k troops? -- rank: 1000

At 01:03 27/05/99 -0400, you wrote: >Times (London) - May 27 1999 > >Clinton to order 90,000 troops to Kosovo >BY MICHAEL EVANS, DEFENCE EDITOR > >PRESIDENT CLINTON is now ready to consider a full-scale land war against >Serb forces in Kosovo, sending up to 90,000 combat troops from America, if >no peace settlement emerges within the next three weeks. > >Although Nato is only officially planning for a peace implementation force >of 50,000-60,000 troops, there is ...

Document Size:	6227
Author:	Chris Burford
Date:	Fri May 28 15:45:14 PDT 1999