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08/31/2005: "Blanket praise is as bad as blanket condemnation"
It's always a risky thing to attribute a controversial view to George Galloway. The Respect bossman is almost as notorious for his litigious streak as for his love of the camera. So when I mention his description of Iraqi 'insurgents' as 'martyrs' who are 'defending the whole world against American hegemony', I do so with a little caution. But while the fact that he is quoted as saying this across dozens of websites proves nothing much, I suppose, the fact that I heard him say something very similar on Monday morning at the Edinburgh Book Festival kinda convinces me that this is indeed his opinion.
That Galloway's analysis will be even seriously considered by the UK media is about as likely as Salman Rushdie being invited as guest of honour to the Hizb-ut Tahrir AGM. But there is, I think, more than a grain of truth in the claim that the 'insurgents' in Iraq, by keeping the US forces tied up there for so long - & at such a cost - have probably gone a good way to protecting Iran, & maybe Syria, from similar treatment. And as a good consequentialist, I should probably be glad of that.
But to speak, as Galloway appeared to on Monday, of the 'insurgents' as if they were a homogenous bunch of like-minded characters seems about as subtle as a Bobo Balde tackle. It is quite clear, even to me, that there are several discreet groups operating in opposition to the US occupation, and equally clear that some of them have agendas with which the Left - or indeed, anyone with a shred of decency - should be loathe to associate themselves. It is, for instance, impossible to link yesterday's shelling of a Shia crowd with anything like principled resistance to US hegemony.
In a sense, by fomenting discord & feeding sectarian tensions, even those bigoted crack-pots may have made life harder for the US, & therefore furthered the objective of deterring them from invading anyone else. But at what price? How much carnage can be justifiably unleashed on the already wretched people of Iraq in the name of protecting their Iranian neighbours? And what will be left behind when the US troops do pull out if, in forcing them to do so, the 'insurgents' have created a religious civil war?
There are, no doubt, brave & principled people in Iraq who are fighting back against the US imperialist occupation as best they can, & I can certainly admire them for doing so. I'm fairly sure, though, that there is also a motley assortment of psychopaths, fanatics & opportunists who are taking advantage of the chaotic conditions to further their own pernicious agendas. Galloway, and other writers like Mike Whitney, want to be a little more selective with their praise.
