Posted July 17, 2002

Having an Empire

I have just read Justin's article ["In Praise of Subversion"]. Although I would classify myself far to the left of a lot of Justin's views, I always find his articles thought provoking and interesting.

It especially gladdens me that there are alternative voices in the US -- here in the UK many people disapprove of US actions in the world -- especially in the Middle East and the fanatical and biased support for Israel. We know from our own history -- especially regarding Northern Ireland that killing, bombast and military might only exacerbates problems -- in the end the only solution comes down to talking.

Having an empire sounds fine and dandy, but it distorts and corrupts the internal politics at home and when it eventually dies as all empires do it leaves you with a legacy that you never seem to get rid of. We in UK are still wrestling with this problem 50+ years later. I had hoped that US might have learnt from the lessons of history -- but obviously not. ...

~ Bob P.

Macedonia

I just read ... "Nobody's Fault But Their Own? Public Relations and the Fate of Macedonia" [by Christopher Deliso] and have to congratulate you for finally getting the story right. I have read some of your articles and seen you on TV in Skopje but it seems that it is only now that you realize what is wrong with Macedonia and the Macedonians.

I'm a Macedonian-American who back in May 1999 moved to Macedonia to try and help it. I took the position of editor in chief of the weekly newsmagazine Makedonsko Sonce in Skopje. The main message conveyed in our magazine was more or less what you have written in your last article plus the fact that it is the government of Georgievski who together with Xaferi orchestrated the 2001 war. Many Macedonians believe this to be true, many don't. Yet most Macedonians believe that it is the West who is to blame for what's wrong in the country. After 3 year I realized that all my efforts were futile so I moved back to the US.

I hope your story will have some impact.

~ Slavko M.

Language of the Left

I really love your [Justin Raimondo's] latest column, "In Praise of Subversion." Also, I have to say this, Franklin Foer is an idiot! His talk of your "lifting the language of the left" and virtually calling you a leftist had me rolling on the floor. He obviously doesn't know you very well, does he? I guess because you are intelligent, very articulate, and not a knee-jerk right wing assh*le, well, you must be a leftist then!

~ Ken A.

Share the Land

Reply to JS's letter of 11 July 2002:

What a nice word resettlement is. Sounds much nicer than ethnic cleansing, doesn't it? And, by your logic, why wouldn't the Palestinians want to move out of a war zone? Could it be because, surprisingly enough, they have an attachment to land that was theirs in the first place? Could it be because they don't want to leave a place that holds their history?

Why don't you simply suggest resettling the Jews in Israel. After all, most of them can trace their roots back to Europe rather than the Middle East. Why don't they all move to France, or Kalingrad? Why are the Jews the people who get to stay, while the Palestinians must move? Is it because they are the poor, the unrepresented, the unwanted? Weren't Jews all of those at one stage (which is why they wanted an Israel?).

I come from South Africa. I have seen what resettlement means -- at gunpoint. And the pain it caused to those who left their ancestors and their history behind them. What the Jews are doing is worse than apartheid. What they are reaping is something South Africa was able to avoid through a strong dose of reality, rather than wishful thinking.

It is simple. Anyone who has any idea of fairness would say -- share the land between the two peoples. That is the just solution. That is the real and only solution. And until the Israelis face reality, their illusions will keep on shattering -- painfully and explosively. It only took a few bombs to make the South African whites decide they had had enough. The Jews in Israel are either braver or more foolhardy, I don't know which.

~ KV

Great Section

I would like to commend Sam Koritz and all those letter writers to Antiwar.com for putting together a great, thought provoking section of the website. It has to be one of the best additions to your site, a site which from this perspective is the political website without equal. As soon as I can, I will send in the most generous contribution I am able to send. Keep up your excellent work.

~ DW

What is Next?

I just read the article about one in 24 Americans being recruited to inform. I can hardly believe it. Is the story true? Has it been
verified? It reminds one of Stalin's Soviet Union where neighbors spied on each other and family members denounced relatives as "enemies of the people." What is next? Gulags in sparsely populated western states?

~ Rick O.

The Backtalk editor replies:

According to Citizen Corps' US Government website (http://www.citizencorps.gov/tips.html): "Operation TIPS, a project of the U.S. Department of Justice, will begin as a pilot program in 10 cities that will be selected. ... Operation TIPS is coming in August 2002."

Two Types of Justice

I am a little stunned at Europe's deluded and unashamedly racist stance that Morocco get off a barren rock 200 metres off its own coast purportedly belonging to Spain whereas there is no mention of the two towns Sebta and Melilia held by Spain in Morocco's interior. Furthermore look at map of the Canary Islands off the western coast of Morocco, no one would guess they are Spanish territory. There are apparently two types of international justice, that which pertains to the EU and America and their clients states which can endlessly be debated and disputed with nothing being done. And that which applies to Arab, African, Asian and South American countries which are immediately threatened with war or having their country flipped upside down if they even look crookedly at their western masters.