[A-List] US Imperialism: Middle East

[Michael Keaney]

Stephen Holden writes:

On Thu, 12 Dec 2002, Macdonald Stainsby wrote:

> This is a red-herring, and I would say not inb the right spirit. It's


PS - why is trying to be accurate and factual "not inb (sic) the right
spirit" ?

------

It would help if, instead of asking what appear to be rhetorical questions,
you tried to supply answers to your otherwise legitimate inquiries. In fact
there is at least an indirect answer to your question regarding Bush and
California schools, referring to how the Bush administration (all for
"states' rights") is manipulating and intensifying the Californian fiscal
crisis to its own ends:

see http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/a-list/2002-December/022169.html

This is not an adequate answer, but it provides useful context and helps to
show just how sincere Bush et al are when it comes to the cant concerning
"investment in health and education" routinely given in lectures to the
governments of less developed countries (an incorporation of the World
Bank's "capitalism with a human face" persona adopted under Wolfensohn). All
grist to the "compassionate conservative" mill.

Meanwhile pedantic nit-picking over the precise per capita "aid" being
offered to the children of the Middle East is not really what we are about
here. Henry is quite right to be outraged at this latest development,
typical as it is of an overweening cultural imperialist racism, that assumes
that, despite the deleterious state of many public schools in the US, money
can suddenly be found to "save" Arab children from "extremists" who, until
very recently, were themselves financed by those same culturally imperialist
racists. How deeply patronising and insulting. Who the #!*¤ are these guys
to spray their "largesse" around like some incontinent Santa Claus? If the
Bush administration or any other were sincere about the "modernisation" of
Arab countries, they would have long ago respected their sovereignty and let
them use the revenues earned from their abundant oil supplies to finance
their own development. Instead we got Cold War era proxy conflicts, client
governments and brutal oppression. Secular Arab nationalism was destroyed in
order to further US interests during the Cold War, and even now Zbigniew
Brzezinski sits unrepentant, asking what is worse -- Soviet tyranny or a few
towelheads with AK47s? Sorry, make that Boeing 747s. Whatever, old Zbig
reckons it's a much better world now. And who is to provide this "education"
to Arab children anyway. Is this an opportunity for profit-making
enterprises based in the US?

Meanwhile what of Afghan children? Do they not need saved from extremists
too? No doubt Afghanistan lacks the "institutional base" required for the
"effective performance" of "markets" touted by the World Bank for the
benefit of imperialist countries' capitalists. It's all very selective, ad
hoc, utterly cynical.

Henry has gone and dug up some figures in the interim.

See http://lists.econ.utah.edu/pipermail/a-list/2002-December/022285.html

Macdonald is correct, Stephen. Your posts have not been in the right spirit.
Please try to remember you are among friends here.

Michael Keaney