berman@ihuxm.UUCP (Rational Chuzpah) (10/29/84)
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Milo Medin, refering for former President Carter, says:
>This was the Bozo who nearly lost el salvador!
Milo's attack recalls the McCarthy purge of the
Roosevelt-era employees in the US State Department,
in the early 1950's.
At that time, the accusation centered around
blaming them for "losing China."
This almost begs for a snappy rejoinder about "losing"
countries, but the ignorance behind Milo's kind
of thinking is currently a bit too popular to joke about.
In the 1950's, as now, it stands to point out that:
1) El Salvador doesn't BELONG to anyone but
the Salvadorans. It can't be "lost" by
American presidents who never OWNED it.
In El Salvador there is large resistance to the
military rulers who run the country for the benefit
of a tiny oligarchy, despite the facade of the
Duarte regime.
The country is currently very "lost" to justice,
democracy and the other values good people everywhere
cherish.
A wiser US foreign policy would seek a non-military
solution to the conflict in El Savaldor, exploring
the proposals of the broad-based opposition (the
Democratic Revolutionary Front) for a negotiated
solution and a government representing all sectors of
Salvadoran society.
2) In Milo's way of thinking, we had better take
heed, for we about to "lose" several more
arsenals of democracy and freedom:
---Marcos' Phllipines, where an extremely repressive
and unpopular dictator is soon headed for the garbage
heap of history. (Reagan, who clearly is quite
ignorant of the political situation in the
Phillipines, stated recently that the only alternative
to Marcos is Communism. In fact this is not so,
there is a large middle class social democratic
opposition.) Which opposition group will take
power after Marcos coming demise isn't yet
determined. A more sane US foreign policy could
probably help insure a non-communist government.
One thing is certain however, the tyranny of
Marcos is approaching its end. The Phillipines
too is about to be "lost".
---Pincohet's Chile, too, is soon to be "lost," as will
eventually the racist white-supremist regime in
South Africa. All of Reagan's rhetoric and military
actions can't "save" these regimes. Persons of
conscience really don't want them "saved" anyway,
not in Milo's or Reagan's sense, which reduces all conflict
in the world to "us" and "them." Their perspective isn't
interested in democracy, justice or the well-being of a
nation's populace. Their only concern is the East-West
conflict. Such a perspective has already "lost" the
most precious values we could offer.
Andy Berman
...ihnp4!ihlpg!berman