(November 18, 2013)
[Please include your first and last names, and your city and state of residence. Thank you.] Clear Insight on Libya: Gilles d'Aymery's Libyan Mayhem: An Assessment To the Editor: A wonderful, progressive friend, Phil Greenspan (RIP), introduced your Web site to us years ago. My husband Ardeshir is on your distribution list and so I read your latest Swans Commentary. I deeply applaud the work you are doing and I shall be using PayPal to make a donation for the excellent intellectual contribution to socialism, humanism, and anti-imperialism just as soon as my PayPal account clears the money (it takes a few days to transfer from my bank account into the PayPal account.) In the meantime, I am so glad I was checking out some e-mails on my husband's computer and found your latest Swans Release. I have added you to my address book, and ask that you add me as a SUBSCRIBER ALSO. I'm including Ardeshir's paper that was presented at a public forum sponsored by us, the American Iranian Friendship Committee (AIFC), on Libya and Qaddafi, which caused quite a bit of yelling and screaming from some "left" individuals who attended the meeting. It's wonderful to see some clear insight and now I understand why Philip Greenspan always spoke so highly of you and your publication. Best regards and solidarity in the struggle for socialism!! Eleanor (Ellie) Ommani Armonk, New York, USA - November 4, 2013 Co-Founder - American Iranian Friendship Committee (AIFC) http://iranprospect.blogspot.com/ Working for Peace, Socio-economic Justice ********** Refreshing opposite views on Libya: Manuel García, Jr.'s No Regrets On Libya and Gilles d'Aymery's Libyan Mayhem: An Assessment To the Editor: Rarely does a publication offer two opposite opinions on a topic, especially when the differences are so obvious and stark. Swans and its editors must be commended for allowing it to happen. I sense that the two authors must have communicated by e-mail and have enough respect for each other that they did not feel threatened by their disagreement, which was obvious for anyone who has read their past work on the subject matter. Let the readers think about their respective arguments and decide for themselves. It's a refreshing exercise. However, Mr. d'Aymery looks slightly idealistic when he questions the parties that decide to intervene -- or not -- militarily in a foreign endeavor. Obviously, these parties have to possess the power and the means. Only NATO could intervene, not Russia, not China. The strong decide, rightly or not. That NATO intervened for humanitarian reasons as Mr. García suggests shows a large degree of naïveté. At the time the first French fighter planes hit the Libyan army moving toward Benghazi, only about a couple hundred dead bodies had been reported -- not exactly a genocide. Mr. García is convinced that a genocide was bound to occur and had to be prevented. We'll never know, and the issue is moot; Gaddafi is gone. As to the consequences, Mr. García appears much too much intellectually motivated and optimistic, and Mr. d'Aymery his empirical and pessimistic self as usual. Still, readers should ponder their thoughtful words. Personally I feel that we have entered a period of turbulence and violence not seen in a century. Regards, Darrell Johnson Tempe, Arizona, USA - November 6, 2013 ********** Where is France beside the Middle East? Hey Mr. d'Aymery: Nothing about France for a long while... Have you forgotten the dear country of your childhood? Lots of things are happening here. Pépère [ed. President François Hollande's pejorative nickname] has an approval rating down to 15%. GDP for the third quarter is in the red; so is unemployment. Pépère is booed everywhere he goes. He cannot wait to start another little war to distract us, but he does not know how to pay for it. To give your readers a sense of the atmosphere existing in France, the justice minister, Christiane Taubira, has been accused of being a monkey in the French Assembly, and of deserving to eat a banana in a right-wing weekly. Mrs. Taubira, a decent and thoughtful woman, happens to be black. It says it all. As in America the color of one's skin turns quickly into an impediment. And the rejection of the large Muslim community is further growing as the economy is rotting. I guess you'd rather not write about that mess, which is slowly shaping into an erupting volcano. Forget about the Middle East. Come to France. It's real fun here. Take care. Alouette Arouet Paris, France - November 10, 2013 ********** We appreciate and welcome your comments. 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