''A silver lining''
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Printed on Friday, February 21, 2003 @ 01:07:07 EST ( )
By Eric Walberg YellowTimes.org Guest Columnist (Uzbekistan)
(YellowTimes.org) – Marx built his powerful critique of capitalism on the contradictions resulting from the difference between appearance and reality. Often what looks one way is in fact quite the opposite. A capitalist tries to beat his competition, say, by lowering his selling price, but instead something quite unpredictable happens - perhaps his action induces a price war and he goes bankrupt, losing everything. Or perhaps his competition forms a cartel and conspires against him. It becomes a world of paradox.
I couldn't help but think of good old Karl as I sat to dinner with friends here in Tashkent a few days ago, celebrating the launching of our internet site dedicated to Uzbek musical culture, funded by one of the great speculators of the 20th century, George Soros. In the well-worn Soviet/ Russian tradition (though everyone apart from myself was Uzbek), we each were expected to make a toast. The Soros representative toasted his boss for providing the moolah. I impertinently added that though the purpose was noble, the money was rather dirty, and that the great man had recently been indicted in France for insider trading. This being a gathering of Soviet-educated intellectuals, my interjection was greeted with laughter. In turn, I decided to toast Germany. Formerly the aggressor against the Soviet Union, the cause of tens of millions of deaths, it had now been transformed into the cornerstone of world peace, defiantly standing up to the U.S. over its plans to attack Iraq. My toast was the hit of the evening. To musicians, paradox and inversion are the very essence of music.
As I watched the awesome demonstrations around the world on TV a few days later, I was struck by the wonderful silver lining glistening through the black war clouds, foolishly seeded by the Bush administration in the hopes of raining terror down on defenseless Iraqis. In attempting to enforce the rule of empire on the world, Bush is bringing about the exact opposite: he has (hopefully) destroyed NATO; the U.N. is lining up against the U.S.; the naive America-worship here in Uzbekistan (and throughout the CIS) which has infuriated me for years and which is vital to maintaining the U.S. empire, is withering on the vine. The scales are falling from the eyes of even the most apolitical as they begin to recognize the real "Evil Empire."
Then there is Venezuela. The impending reopening of McDonalds, which is still on "strike" against the Venezuelan government, will be hailed as a victory for President Chavez and the Bolivarian Revolution. The word "democracy" has come to mean the overthrow of the elected President, and the establishment of dictatorship. Bosses organize the strikes and corrupt union leaders complain about the government defending workers' legal rights. And the military invade the shantytowns not to kill and terrorize, but to build houses. The reckless blundering of the Bush junta over Iraq is a greater boost for Chavez than any left-wing propaganda.
As for Mr. Hussein, he and his regime have the prayers and blessing of the Pope himself, and with his latest decree banning WMDs, is burnishing his image as the great savior of the world. Too weak and humiliated to be a threat to anyone, he's thrown his lot in with the world's peaceniks, welcoming them to Bagdad with open arms, and releasing his political prisoners.
"There's no time to waste!" shouts Bush, as he rushes troops and the world's most sophisticated and deadly WMDs (surely a barrage of 400 cruise missiles full of depleted uranium must constitute the equivalent of a WMD) to the Gulf. His strident, ungrammatical rhetoric sends shock waves through every heart in the world (and shivers down every teacher's spine), much as (I hate to say it but it's true!) the rantings of Hitler did in the summer of '39. That's right, George, no time to waste. We're reaching the endgame. But who will be checkmated?
There may be no second resolution. And the German-French proposal calling for a large number of inspectors and a contingent of United Nations Peacekeepers to be sent with them will surely be vetoed by the U.S. and Britain. However, there is a loophole in the U.S. power to stop the French-German plan. Under the "United For Peace" provision of the U.N. laws, Security Council members may take their proposal to the General Assembly for a vote.
The French and the Germans are attempting to do whatever they can to prevent war. If the Bush administration and whomever they have bought and coerced on the Security Council object, France, Germany, Russia, China and their other co-sponsors may go the General Assembly for a vote; this will make it possible for U.N. Peacekeepers to depart for Iraq as soon as possible, hopefully within 24 to 48 hours. Once the peacekeepers are there, it will be almost impossible for the U.S. to bomb Iraq.
Let's checkmate George and disarm him peacefully. Write the Security Council members ASAP. Marx will crack a paradoxical smile as this crisis plays itself out.
France Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations france-presse@un.int
Germany Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations contact@germany-un.org
Russian Federation Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations rusun@un.int