[whataretheysaying] Mary Madigan: "these weren't the moderate English-speaking leftist intellectuals we were looking for.."

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Posted by Mary Madigan:
"these weren't the moderate English-speaking leftist intellectuals we were looking for.."
http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1175103166.shtml


   [1]Michael Totten and [2]Patrick Lasswell found themselves in a comedy
   of manners when they discovered that they were talking to the wrong
   groups of armed, revolutionary communists in Kurdistan.

   But, since these armed Kurdish Stalinists had already offered them tea
   and a nice lunch, it was all water under the bridge. After all, this
   is Kurdistan, not [3]Jersey City.

   These hard-line Kurdish communists interviewed in [4]The Iranian
   Revolution in Iraq answered a question I've been wondering about for
   years - Iranian leftists supported Khomeini's Revolution, and Khomeini
   repaid their efforts by annihilating the Left in Iran. Why are
   Iraninian leftists so opposed to American efforts to fight Islamist
   terrorism and Ahmadinejad?

     "So do you think American foreign policy is wrong?" I said.

     "Yes, it is," he said.

     "What do you think it should be then?" I said.

     "The best thing is for America not to interfere with the situation
     in the world," he said. "Wherever they meddle they spoil the region
     â from Afghanistan to Iraq."

     "Was Afghanistan better off under the Taliban?" Patrick said.

     "I donât think it was better,â Hassan said. "But the Taliban was a
     party established by Americans. They helped them against the Soviet
     Union at that time."

     Lord only knows how long it will take for this leftist canard to
     die. The Taliban didnât exist until long after the Americans left
     Afghanistan and forgot all about it. Serious analysts of the Middle
     East know the Taliban was created with Saudi money by Pakistanâs
     ISI â its intelligence agency â and from the very beginning was an
     enemy of the United States. But this was an interview, not an
     argument, so I left him alone about it.

     "Ok, so what do you think of the Soviet Union?" I said. I thought
     perhaps he was angry about the American support for the mujahadeen
     (not the Taliban) against Soviet imperialism. Maybe he liked the
     Soviet Union. He is a Communist, after all.

     "The Soviet Union was an imperialist country. We were never in
     favor of the Soviet Union."

     "If the United States wanted to help the people of Iran struggle
     against the dictatorship," I said, "would you welcome that
     assistance, or would you rather the Americans stay out?â

     "We think meddling in Iranian affairs is a bad thing," he said.
     âThere is already the reality of a struggle against the regime.
     There are many people who are already against the Iranian regime.
     Let them do what they want to do.â

   Of course, America and Russia aren't the only nations that meddle in
   other nations' affairs. Iran's neighbors are funding
   terrorist/paramilitary 'meddling' around the world. If the Iranian
   people did manage to seize control of their government, their
   neighbors would send in the insurgents and Iran would be another Iraq.

   I don't agree with the Iranian assesment of the situation, but at
   least I understand where it's coming from.

   More about Kurdish [5]communist views and [6]hospitality..

References

   1. http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001409.html
   2. http://www.moderaterisk.net/2007/03/cold_calling_the_communists_in.php
   3. http://whataretheysaying.powerblogs.com/posts/1168732124.shtml
   4. http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001409.html
   5. http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001409.html
   6. http://www.moderaterisk.net/2007/03/cold_calling_the_communists_in.php