Date: 01 May 96 17:20:51 EDT
From: Jon Flanders <72763.2240-AT-compuserve.com>
To: <jamiller-AT-igc.apc.org>, <marxism-AT-jefferson.village.Virginia.EDU>
Subject: nica


 >>  The opportunity was given away, not taken away. They didn't go down
fighting, they gave the revolution away. <<Jim Miller


 Jim,

  Well, I was right, Louis lit into you with a passion. Pick yourself up and
knock the dust out of your pants. You will feel better in a minute.

  Seriously, though, the above quote is the essence of what we are talking
about. It is an assessment of the situation on the ground in 1987 which
particularly in light of subsequent events, just doesn't stand up very well.

  Nicaragua in 1987 was not like Cuba after the Bay of Pigs. That invasion was
over quickly, defeated in a knockout punch. If the Sandinistas had been able
to do that to the contras at the beginning, then backslid, I could go along
with your analysis. Remember the Thrilla in Manilia? Could Muhammad Ali have
come out immediately after the 15th round with Joe Frazier and gone another 15
with George Foreman?

  Another example might be the post Civil War period in the US. The complete
emancipation of the slaves and democratic reconstruction of the South failed,
in large part, due to the exhaustion of the most progressive elements of the
victorius North. After a while, they just didn't want to hear about
Reconstruction. The country was bled dry, and it took another hundred years to
complete the democratic tasks in the South.

  Anyway, Louis made the case for the objective situation, and there is no
need to go over it again.

  I am beginning to realize who Lou reminds me of, one of my early favorites,
George Orwell. He has the same ear for the hackneyed phrase, the party line
cliche. This it makes it tough for old sods like us. You really have to go
over what you write, before you give him a go at it.
 And taking him on on Nicaragua is like debating Orwell on Spain.

 Best, Jon Flanders





  E-mail from: Jonathan E. Flanders, 01-May-1996




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