spartacist no.22 june 1980

8/11/2019 SPARTACIST No.22 June 1980

1/8

No 22 June 198 15p BRITAIN

Fruits of 'Iranian revolution'

omeini s

war on Ie

,

For workers revolution to smash Islamic reaction

A f t e r Jimmy Carter s b o t c h e d ' m i s s i o n impossi b l e ' ended in f lames i n t h e I r a n i a n d e s e r t ,Ay a t o l l a h R u h o l l a h Khomeini c l a i m e d t h a t t h e USp r e s i d e n t ' s ' f o o l i s h n e s s ' p r o v e d t h a t a l l a h wasi n d e e d on t h e s i d e o f h i s I s l a m i c r e g i m e . Thea y a t o l l a h e x p l a i n e d : ' C a r t e r s t i l l h a s n o t r ea l i s e d what s o r t o f n a t i o n he i s f a c i n g . . . . Ourn a t i o n i s a n a t i o n o f b l o o d and o u r s c h o o l i st h e s c h o o l o f holy war . . . . C a r t e r must know t h a t

b u i l d i n g s a t Tehran U n iv e r s i t y r e p o r t e d t h a tt w e n t y o f t h e i r comrades~ e r e murdered. I n p r o vi n c i a l u n i v e r s i t i e s t h eI s l a m i c t h u g s were e v e nmore v i c i o u s . In S h i r a zmore t h a n 400 were i nj u r e d ; and a c c o r d i n g to

~ J ] j O J lstil:Ql lg Da t i op . J }a . s b e n ra j . sed ~ a _ ~ h e 1 e h l Q ; n ~ { ~ ~ ~ -A p r i l ) f i v e were k i l l e dand some 100 wounded inAhwaz. A l e a f l e t i s s u e d

s c h o o l i n which mar tyrdom i s c o n s i d e r e d h a p p in e s s ' New Yopk Times 26 A p r i l ) .

But K h o m e i n i ' s h o l y war i s d i r e c t e d a g a i n s tt h e US o n l y in words . He u s e s American Phantomj e t s and h e l i c o p t e r g u n s h i p s to m a s s a c r e K u r d i s hr e b e l s i n S a n a n d a j . He o f f e r s ' u n c o n d i t i o n a ls u p p o r t ' t o h i s f e l l o w I s l a m i c Clergymen inA f g h a n i s t a n when t h e y a r e t o o l s o f US i m p e r i a lism and t h e CIA. Khomeini and t h e Afghan m u l l a h sknow t h a t t h e i r main enemy i s t h e S o v i e t Union.I t was t h e O c t o b e r R e v o l u t i o n which b r o k e t h er e a c t i o n a r y s o c i a l power o f t h e mosque and b a za a r as it l i b e r a t e d t h e Moslem b o r d e r l a n d s f romi m p e r i a l i s t s u b j u g a t i o n . We c a l i f o r u n c o n d i ti o n a l m i l i t a r y s u p p o r t t o I r a n a g a i n s t i m p e r i a li s t a t t a c k i n o r d e r t o o p e n t h e road f o r t h eO c t o b e r o f t h e I r a n i a n working masses which w i l lsweep away Khomeini and a l l t h e e x p l o i t e r s , c a pi t a l i s t and p r e - c a p i t a l i s t .

Today t h e a y a t o l l a h ' s sWbrd i s u n s h e a t h e d to' c u t s h o r t t h e h a n d s ' o f t h e i n t e r n a l enemies

o f h i s t h e o c r a t i c r u l e . He has s e n t h i s armrand pasdars ( I s l a m i c Guards) i n t o a j i h a d ont h r e e f r o n t s where t h e s t i l l u n c o n s o l i d a t e dI s l a m i c R e p u b l i c h a s f a c e d i t s most s e v e r e c h a ll e n g e s in many months : in b o r d e r s k i r m i s h e s w i t ha w e l l - e q u i p p e d I r a q i army; a g a i n s t Kurdishn a t i o n a l i s t s r e S i s t in g P e r s i a n c h a u v i n i s m int u r b a n ; and in t h e u n i v e r s i t i e s , where t h em u l l a h chant o f ' D e a t h t o t h e Communis ts ' wasd e l i v e r e d f rom t h e b a r r e l o f I s l a m i c g u n s i n t h ef i e r c e s t u r b a n s t r e e t f i g h t i n g s i n c e t h e o v e rthrow o t h e B a k h t i a r r e g i m e l a s t y e a r.

During A p r i l dozens o f l e f t i s t s t u d e n t s weremurdered and hundreds were i n j u r e d as Khomein is e n t h i s ' I s l a m i c R e v o l u t i o n ' o n t o , t h e l e f t i s t su n i v e r s i t y s t r o n g h o l d s to ' p u r g e ' them o f 'Marxi s t , i n f l u e n c e . At F r i d a y e v e n i n g p r a y e r s e rv i c e s on A p r i l 18, t h e p r a y e r l e a d e r a t Te h r a nU n i v e r s i t y c a l l e d f o r r i d d i n g t h e u n i v e r s i t i e so f p i c t u r e s o f Lenin and hammers and s i c k l e s .Wi t h i n h o u r s Tehran U n i v e r s i t y was s tormed byk n i f e , c l u b and gun w i e l d i n g t h u g s , t h eHezbollahi o r ' p e o p l e o f t h e p a r t y o f g o d ' .

Hezbollahi a t t a c k s l a s t A u g u s t ~ a v e dt h e wayf o r Khomein i to ban a l l p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s andp a p e r s , making t h e u n i v e r s i t i e s t h e l a s t r e f u g eo f o r g a n i s e d l e f t - w i n g p r o p a g a n d a . Now Khomeinih a s d e t e r m i n e d t o c o m p l e t e l y a n n i h i l a t e suchgroups as t h e p o p u 1 i s t n a r x i s t ~ L e n i n i s t~ e d a y e e nKha1q ( P e o p l e ' s S e 1 f - S a c r i f i c e r s ) , t h er a d i c a l I s l a m i c Mujahedeen Khalq ( P e o p l e ' sC r u s a d e r s ) and t h e pro-Moscow S t a l i n i s t Tudehp a r t y . The Fedayeen who b a r r i c a d e d t h e m s e l v e s i n

by l e f t i s t I r a n i a ns tu ,dents h e r e e s t i m a t e dt h e t o t a l k i l l e d a t o v e r265.

When t h e f a n a t i c a lr e a c t i o n a r y Khomein i cameto power f i f t e e n monthsago, o p p o r t u n i s t s o fe v e r y s t r i p e h a i l e d it asa v i c t o r y f o r t h e I r a ni a n m a s s e s . For monthst h e y had c h e e r e d on h i smass m o v e m e n ~of c l e r i c a lr e a c t i o n , t h e i r t h r o a t sh o a r s e f rom c h a n t i n g s u c h

Leftist students after Islamic thug attack. Fake-Trotskyist HKE claimsthe Islamic fanatics were revolution sing the universities

' a n t i - i m p e r i a l i s t 's l o g a n s as ' god i s g r e a t ' , t h e i r e a r ~ d e a f t o ,t h e c r i e s o f ' D e a t h to t h e Communis ts ' and' D e a t h o r t h e Ve i l ' e r u p t i n g from t h e mu11ahl e d m a s s e s . But t h e ~ l a r o i c' s o l d i e r s o f god 'were n o t f l a t t e r e d by o p p o r t u n i s t g r o v e l l i n gb e f o r e them. T h a t l e f t - w i n g o r g a n i s a t i o n s s t i l le x i s t in I r a n t o d a y i s due n o t to t h e t o l e r a n c eo f t h e I s l a m i c s t a t e b u t to i t s weakness .Khomein i i n t e n d s t o c o n s o l i d a t e t h e r e p r e s s i v ea p p a r a t u s o f h i s s t a t e power o v e r t h e deadb o d i e s o f t h e ' s a t a n i c ' I r a n i a n l e f t i s t s andr e b e l l i o u s n a t i o n a l m i n o r i t i e s .

HKE justifies anti-communist jihad

None on t h e l e f t c h e e r e d more l o u d l y f o r t h eI s l a m i c o n s l a u g h t t h a n t h e f a k e - T r o t s k y i s tU n i t e d S e c r e t a r i a t (USec) and i t s I r a n i a n s u pp o r t e r s , who went on t o form t h e Hezb-eK a rg a r a n - e S o s i a 1 i s t (HKS). I r a n was one o f t h efew i n s t a n c e s o f m a j o r sO,cia1 s t r u g g l e where t h ec h r o n i c a l l y - d i v i d e d USec p r e s e n t e d a u n i t e df r o n t - - b e h i n d I s l a m i c r e a c t i o n . But w i t h t h em u l l a h s in power, t h e c o n s i s t e n t l y u n c r i t i c a l 'p r o - K h o m e i n i c r e t i n i s m o f t h e r e f o r m i s t AmericanS o c i a l i ~ tWorkers P a r t y (SWP) and i t s I r a n i a na c o l y t e s e v e n t u a l l y p r o v e d t o o much even f o rmany HKS members , and s e v e r a l months ago t h a to r g a n i s a t i o n s p l i t down t h e m i d d l e , w i t h t h eS W P ~ l o y a l i s t sforming t h e HKE.

Now t h e SWP/HKE h a v e o u t d o n e t h e i r f a c t i o n a lc o m p e t i t o r s i n t h e USec, c a r r y i n g t h e i r c r i m i n a ls u p p o r t to Khome,ini ' s ' I s l a m i c r e v o l u t i o n ' t oi t s l o g i c a l c o n c l u s i o n . They hailed t h e b l o o d yp u rg e o f l e f t l s t s on t h e u n i v e r s i t i e s and de -

nounced as ' s e c t a r i a n o p p o s i t i o n ' t h o s e . l e f t i s t swho t r i e d t o d e f e n d t h e i r o r g a n i s a t i o n s andt h e i r v e r y l i v e s f rom t h e S h i ' i t e c l e r g y ' ss t o r m t r o o p e r s . I n an a r t i c l e e n t i t l e d WhyC a r t e r F e a r s U n r a v e l i n g A u t h o r i t y in I r a n '

Intepcontinental Ppess, 5 Hay) , t h e SWP q u o t e sf rom an HK s t a t e m e n t p u b l i s h e d on A p r i l 21 a tthe, h e i g h t o f t h e I s l a m i c t h u g a t t a c k s uponu n i v e r s i t y l e f t i s t s :

'The Tudeh P a r t y , Mujahedeen, Fedayeen,Paykor and o t h e r s o - c a l l e d M a r x i s t o r g a n i za t i o n s , which a lways s t a r t f rom t h e i r ownnarrow, s e c t a r i a n i n t e r e s t s , h a v e e s s e n t i a l l yopposed t h i s b r a v e a c t i o n . These f o r c e s ,under t h e p r e t e x t o f d e f e n d i n g t h e ~ b a r -r i c a d e o f , f reedom ( t h e s e o r g a n i z a t i o n s t h i n kt h a t r e a c t i o n h a s t a k e n o v e r t h e c o u n t r y andt h a t t h e campuses a r e t h e l a s t b a s t i o n ) h a v e 'm o b i l i z e d a g a i n s t t h e a c t i o n o f t h e ISOs[ I s l a m i c S t u d e n t O r g a n i s a t i o n s ] . '

The ' b r a v e a c t i o n ' d e f e n d e d by t h e S W P / H K ~

was n o t h i n g l e s s t h a n an a n t i - c o m m u n i s t pogrom.A l i n e o f b l o o d h a s now been drawn between t h eHK and o t h e r I r a n i a n l e f t o r g a n i s a t i o n s , i n c l u

d i n g t h e i r former comrades , t h e HKS. The 22 MaySocialist Challenge c a r r i e d a b r i e f r e p o r t whichn o t e d t h a t a member o f t h e HKS 'was e x e c u t e d byK h o m e i n i ' s R e v o l u t i o n a r y Guards a f t e r being a rr e s t e d on 22 A p r i l when f i g h t i n g b r o k e o u t inAhwaz U n i v e r s i t y between l e f t - w i n g s t u d e n t s andKhomein i s u p p o r t e r s . ' Although it now a p p e a r st h a t t h i s e x e c u t e d l e f t i s t was not i n f a c t amember o f t h e HKS, a c c o r d i n g to a s t a t e m e n t re -

continued on page 6


2/8

Murray sMay14,:

witha bang but aLen Murray s a i d t h a t t h e May 14 TUC Day o f Ac

t i o n a c h i e v e d i t s aim. I t d i d . C a l l e d as a d i st a ~ t d i v e r s i o n while t h e s t e e l s t r i k e r a g e d ,Murray worked o v e r t i m e to s e e it remained a d iv e r s i o n . Any p o t e n t i a l mass show of u n i o ns t r e n g t h was s c a t t e r e d i n t o 130 .main ly s m a l l 1 0 -c a l r a l l i e s . Not even b o t h e r i n g t o m o b i l i s e al a b o u r movement r e s p o n s e to a Tory p r e s s w i t c hh u n t , t h e TUC b u r e a u c r a t s e n s u r e d t h e f a i l u r et h e y wanted - - t h o u g h Murray p r o b a b l y wished itwas a q u i e t e r f l o p , which d i d n t i n t e r r u p t h i sH a d e i r a h o l i d a y. The S p a r t a c i s t League demandedt h a t May 14 be t h e f i r s t day o f a l o n g - o v ~ r d u eg e n e r a l s t r i k e to smash t h e Tory a n t i - w o r k i n gc l a s s o f f e n s i v e . But Murray Co a t t e m p t e d tos a b o t a g e even a d e c e n t t u r n o u t f o r t h e i r one-daya c t i o n .

The one-day g e n e r a l s t r i k e t h a t n e v e r was,and was n e v e r meant to b e , marked t h e end o fy e a r o n e and round one i n t h e c l a s s s t r u g g l es i n c e t h e I r o n Lady e n t e r e d Downing S t r e e t . Inf l a t i o n i s a l r e a d y o v e r 20 p e r c e n t and2 , 0 0 0 , 0 9 0 unemployed a r e t h r e a t e n e d f o r t h e n e a rf u t u r e . And t h e a l r e a d y d e c r e p i t B r i t i s h c a p i ta l i s t economy is e n t e r i n g a new p e r i o d of l o n g ,deep r e c e s s i o n . While t h e r u l i n g c l a s s has not

y e t a c h i e v e d i t s key o b j e c t i v e o f i n f l i c t i n g d ec i s i v e d e f e a t s a c r ~ s st h e board on s t r a t e g i cs e G t i o n s o f t h e p r o l e t a r i a t , it f e e l s emboldenedin i t s chances in round two t h a n J s t ~ t h e u n i o nt o p s a c t i o n s o v e r t h e p a s t w i n t e r and s p r i n g .B i l l S i r s and t h e TUC t o g e t h e r k n i f e d t h e h e r o i cs t e e l m e n whose t h i r t e e n - w e e k - l o n g s t r u g g l e c o u l dhave been t h e b a s i s o f a g e n e r a l s t r i k e . HossEvans f o l l o w e d up h i s s a n c t i o n i n g o f s c a b b i n g ont h e s t e e l ~ t r i k eby c a v i n g in b e f o r e . S i r MichaelEdwardes g e t back o r be s a c k e d u l t i m a t u mw h i l e . Te r r y Duffy t o o k h i s t u r n to s c a b h e r d AUEWmembers i n o r d e r to s a v e L e y l a n d . L e f t o rr i g h t t h e b u r e a u c r a t s have worked h a r d a t bet r a y a l . May 14 crowned i t .

Even i n t h e few weeks s i n c e t h e Day o f A c t i o nt h e r o t t e n f r u i t s o f p a s t t r e a c h e r y have b e e nh a r v e s t e d . Steelmen a t P o r t Ta l b o t and Llanwernhave been c o r n e r e d i n t o a c c e p t i n g t h e l o s s o fo v e r h a l f t h e j o b s now manned. And s t r i k i n gl a g g e r s on t h e I s l e o f Grain have had t o s t a n d

a g a i n s t a P r i o r - B i l l - b o o s t i n g a n t i - p i c k e t o f f e ns i v e by f h e p r e s s and mass a r r e ~ t sw h i l e t h eAUEW c o n s t r u c t i o n l e a d e r John Baldwin and o t h e runion o f f , i c i a l s h e r d t h e i r members in c o a c h e s

. a c r o s s MWU l i n e s .Yet t h e u n i o n b u r e a u c r a t s c a n n o t e d s i l y h o l d

back t h e growing r e s e n t m e n t and h a t r e d of t h i sgovernment in t h e working c l a s s . I t is t h i s

Print workers march down Fleet Street on May 14. MurrayCo s answer t the Tories was only one half-hearted

~ d a y o faction'

which w i l l p r e v e n t t h e To r i e s f rom e x e c u t i n gt h e i r p l a n s without massive s o c i a l e x p l o s i o n s .

D e s p i t e e v e r y t h i n g May 14 s t i l l saw 250,000 ons t r i k e in S c o t l a n d w i t h s h i p y a r d s , Glasgow eng i n e e r t n g and most p i t s s h u t down. S o u t h Walesminers s t r u c k . Docks were at a v i r t u a l s t a n ds t i l l in L i v e r p o o l , H u l l and Southampton. F i f t ythousand p u b l i c s e c t o r workers w r ~out inLondon. F l e e t S t r e e t was s i l e n t . Some towns sawt h e l a r g e s t ( i f n o t t h e f i r s t ) workers .de.mon-

III

~:r

s t r a t i o n s f o r y e a r s and t h e p r i n t workers whoj e e r e d a t t h e aily Express o f f i c e s i n d e f i a n c eo f t h a t r a g s a t t e m p t to d e c l a r e nne Day of Act i o n i l l e g a l t h r o u g h a High C o u r t i n j u n c t i o nsummed up w i l l i n g n e s s w i d e s p r e a d in t h e p r o l e ta r i a t to d e f y t h e b o s s e s and a l l t h e i r a g e n c i e sshould t h e chance a r i s e and t h e l e a d be g i v e n .May 14 - - even as a f l o p - - did g i v e a s l i g h tf o r e t a s t e o f what a real g e n e r a l s t r i k e wouldbe l i k e .

Murray Co a l s o have a n o t h e r di lemma. Theywant to c o l l a b o r a t e w i t h t h e b o u r g e o i s i e so badt h a t it h u r t s . O u r voice . . . is t h e v o i c e o fcompromise s a i d Len to t h e r a l l y in B a r k i n g onMay 14. It i s no p a r t i c u l a r j o y to us to d i v e r to u r e n e r g i e s to t h i s s o r t o f a c t i o n , he t o l dt h e p r e s s on May 15. He o n l y hopes t o p r e s s u r eT h a t c h e r i n t o more c o n s u l t a t i o n . But she j u s tw o n t buy i t . She i s at l e a s t a d e t e r m i n e d andc l a s s - c o n s c i o u s r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f h e r b r e e dw h i l e t h e l a b o u r movement is p a r a l y s e d by t h ec r i n g i n g n o n e n t i t i e s a t i t s h e a d .

Alan Watkins o f t h e Observer (18 May) c a pt u r e d t h e c r i s i s of w o r k i n g - c l a s s l e a d e r s h i pwhen he t o o k up t h e a t t a c k s o f t h e Express on

L e n i n Murray. T h i s i s s u r e l y u n f a i r . L e n i nwas r u t h l e s s : Len i s t h o r o u g h l y d e c e n t . Leninwas a l e a d e r : Len i s h a r d l y t h a t . And no a l t e rn a t i v e w i l l come from t h e r e f o r m i s t s o f t h eCommunist P a r t y who h a i l e d May 14 as A day toremember and whined on about t h e need f o rT h a t c h e r to c h a n g e c o u r s e . Nor w i l l it comef rom t h e f a k e - r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s o f t h e S o c i a l i s tWorkers P a r t y, t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l M a r x i s t Groupand t h e l i k e who welcomed May 14 f rom t h e v e r ys t a r t r a t h e r t h a n e x p o s e it f o r t h e d i v e r s i o naway from t h e s t e e l s t r i k e it i n i t i a l l y was , andwho now c o v e r t h e i r b a c k s i d e s by p r e t e n d i n g t h a tit was t h e show o f s t r e n g t h t h a t it w a s n ~ .

The working c l a s s needs a r e v o l u t i o n a r y l e a de r s h i p which w i l l sweep a s i d e t h e P.furrays andt h e i r . i lk . to ll IJLSJla l1.e. c l a s s lIC.


3/8


4/8

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IM launches youth group

I

,In t h e , w a k e o f t h e Anti Nazi League C a r n i v a l s

which drew t h o u s a n d s o f youth t o r o c k a g a i n s tr a c i s m two y e a r s ago, t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l M a r x i s tGroup (IMG) d e c i d e d t h e t i m e had come t o c a p t u r ea p i e c e o f t h e l u c r a t i v e y o u t h m a r k e t . The r es u l t i n g Revolution was an i n d e p e n d e n t youthp a p e r, nominal ly produced by o o r g a n i s a t i o n(much l e s s an i n d e p e n d e n t o n e ) , b u t d e d i c a t e dt o t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n o f a u n i t e d r e v o l u t i o n a r yyouth o r g a n i s a t i o n - - p r i m a r i l y w i t h t h eS o c i a l i s t Workers P a r t y (SWP) youth group,R e b e l , in mind. If you want to j O i n . . . ano r g a n i s a t i o n t h a t you c o n t r o l , s a i d t h e b l u r bi n v i t i n g l y , ' c o m e . t o t h e R e v o l u t i o n c o n f e r e n c e .

T h i s p a r t i c u l a r o p p o r t u n i s t manoeuvre a l m o s tblew up i n t h e IMG's f a c e a t t h e v e r y s t a r t ; asMacbeth p u t i t , ' b loody i n s t r u c t i o n s b e i n gt a u g h t r e t u r n to p l a g u e t h e i r i n v e n t o r . S u c k l e don u n i t y w i t h s t a t e c a p i t a l i s t s and i n d e p e nd e n c e ' f rom a d u l t p,art i e s , t h e newly dubbed~ e v o l u t i o nYouth almost exploded a t i t s foundingc o n f e r e n c e on t h e weekend o f ~ , f a y1 7 - 1 8 . As t h r e es e p a r a t e a r t i c l e s in Social iDt Challenge (22 .May) a t t e s t e d , t h e R e v o l u t i o n c o n f e ~ e n c ewasd e e p l y s p l i t on t h e q u e s t i o n which h a s p l a g u e dt h e IMG i t s e l f f o r s e v e r a l y e a r s running: c a nf u s i o n w i t h th.e e x p l i c i t l y n o n - Tr o t s k y i s t SWP/Rebel be found w i t h i n t h e f ramework of aff i l i -a t i o n t o t h e n o m i n a l l y T r o t s k y i s t U n i t e d S e c r et a r i a t (USec) . And much as t h e IMG h a s a t t e m p t e dto duck p o l i t i c s in r e c r u i t i n g y o u t h , t h e keyprogrammat ic q u e s t i o n formal ly, s e p a r a t i n g t h eSWP and lUG - - d e f e n c e o f t h e S o v i e t Union :..-a l s o became a f o c u s f o r s h a r p d e b a t e a t t h ec o n f e r e n c e .

While a t l e a s t o n e nw y o u t h was s e e n s p o r ting a b a d ~ ew i t h hammer and s i c k l e b e a r i n g t h ewords , Vi c t o r y t o t h e Red Army' , o t h e r s echoed

c ~ o r d i n gt o t h e e d i t o r i a l in t h e l a t e s tRevolution (May 1980) t h i s c o n f e r e n c e is s u pposed to l a u n c h an :ndependent y o u t h o r g a n i sa t i o n which w i l l d e c i d e i t s r e l a t i o n s w i t ho t h e r p a r t i e s as it goes on t o win y o u t h int h i s country to t h e s t r u g g l e f o r S o c i a l i s m andWo r k e r s ' P o w e r ' . Well , i f we were in t h e I n t e rn a t i o n a l M a r x i s t Group (IMG) and i t s s o - c a l l e d

I n t e r n a t i o n a l , t h e U n i t e d S e c r e t a r i a t (USec)- ~ t h e p a r t y which ~ u s t ~ h a p p e n sto be t h e f o u nd e r o f and m a j o r i t y in R e ~ o l u t : i . o n- - we w o u l d n twant t o b o a s t about it to y o u t h ~ n t e n ton f i g h ti n g f o r s o c i a l i s m and workers power e i t h e r . Butw e r e r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s - - T r o t s k y i s t s - - and wehave n o t h i n g to, h i d e . And we t h i n k t h e r e a r e a

Spartacist League leaflet

Do you hate mullahs,cops and capitalism?

Join the SpartacistLeague 'few t h i n g s about t h e IMG/USec you s h o u l d knowwhich show how i t s not T r o t s k y i s t . Do you know:

. T h a t r i g h t , . a f t e r t h e S o v i e t m i l i t a r y i n t e rv e n t i o n a g a i n s t t h e r e a c t i o n a r y I s l a m i c r e b e l sin A f g h a n i s t a n , t h e H1G's p a p e r, Socia l i s t Chal-lenge (3 J a n u a r y 1980) came out on t h e same s.ideas Jimmy C a r t e r and H a rg a r e t T h a t c h e r ?

That t h e e n t i r e USec, i n c l u d i n g t h e IHG,s u p p o r t e d t h e s o - c a l l e d r e v o l u t i o n i n I r a nl a s t y e a r which s p e l l e d g e n o c i d e f o r Kurds andArabs , t h e v e i l f o r women, and d e a t h f o r l e f ti s t s and homosexuals ; and t h a t one o f t h e USec 'stwo I r a n i a n s e c t i o n s , t h e HKE, e v e n t r i e d toj u s t i f y t h e murder o f 27 l e f t i s t s t u d e n t s byKhomeini ' s hoodlums i n Te h r a n , l a s t month ( s e e

Intercontinental Press 5 May 1 9 8 0 ) ?. T h a t t h e IMG's American comrades , t h e US

S o c i a l i s t Workers P a r t y (US SWP)J s u p p o r t s f r e espeech ' f o r f a s c i s t s , and d e f e n d s a g e - o f -

4

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Ta r i q A l i and Tony C l i f f , c l a m o u r i n g l o u d l y f o rS o v i e t t r o o p s out o f A f g h a n i s t a n and Afghans e l f - d e t e rm i n a t i o n . When one s p e a k e r a rg u e d

f o r r a i s i n g d e f e n c e o f t h e S o v i e t Union i n t h en e w ~ Q ; r g { l n i s < o \ . . ~ : i , o n ' sint.ended, c a l l , \ p a : i . g l l . ~ ol\Iob;i,. ... i s e o u r , g e n e r a t i o n a g a i n s t t h e U n i t e d S t a t e s ward r i v e , a n o t h e r r e p l i e d t h a t t h i s would l e a d tobecoming a ' g r o u p s i m p l y e m p h a s i s i n g R u s s i a ,l i k e t h e S p a r t s . The c o n f e r e n c e o p t e d i n s t e a d

f o r f o c u s s i n g o n l y on d e f e n d i n g t h e r e v o l u t i o n si n I r a n , C e n t r a l America and t h e C a r i b b e a n .

c o n s e n t l e g i s l a t i o n which d e p r i v e s gay youth o fs e x u a l f reedoms ( s e e t h e US Mil i tan t 13 A p r i l1979)?

. T h a t t h e s e same American a l l i e s o f t h e IMG

o p e n l y supported t h e Nicaragl lan g o v e r n m ~ r i t ~ sd ep o r t a t i o n o f l e f t i s t s ( t h e Siimon B o l i v a r B r igade) who a t t h e t i m e were e v e n members o f t h eUSec t h e m s e l v e s ?

. T h a t IMG l e a d e r Ta r i q A l i had a f r i e n d l yd i n n e r and d e b a t e w i t h t h e h e a d o f t h e Midlands P o l i c e F e d e r a t i o n a t Birmingham U n i v e r s i t yo n l y d a y s a f t e r t h i s top c o p s t h u g s in b l u e hadbashed t h e i r way i n t o s t e e l w o r k e r s s t r i k eh e a d q u a r t e r s a t t h e Birmingham Labour Club andb e a t e n a ~ l e a s t one s t r i k e r s e n s e l e s s on t h ep i c k e t l i n e ?

. T h a t l e a d i n g s u p p o r t e r s o f t h e IMG a tB r i t i s h L e y l a n d s Rover S o l i h u l l p l a n t c r o s s e d

p i c k e t l i n e s to go i n t o work t h r o u g h o u t t h e LRover s t r i k e l a s t month?

I f you a l r e a d y know a l l t h e s e t h i n g s and t h e yd o n t b o t h e r you, t h e h you m i g h t a s w e l l s t o pr e a d i n g t h i s l e a f l e t . R e v o l u t i o n i s t h e o r g a ni s a t i o n f o r you, o r R e b e l , o r , f o r t h a t m a t t e r ,t h e LPYS - - none o f them i s r e v o l u t i o n a r y anywayand a t l e a s t t h e LPYS has t h e a d v a n t a g e o f s i z e .They c e r t a i n l y a r e n t i n t e n t on b u i l d i n g t h es o r t of y o u t h o r g a n i s a t i o n T l ~ O t s k ywas t a l k i n gabout when he s a i d , i n ' Yo u t h and t h e F o u r t hI n t e r n a t i ~ n a l(1936) :

'Only through an i n t r a n s i g e n t r e v o l u t i o n a r yp o l i c y , which condemns e v e r y c o n c e s s i o n tot h e c o n c e p t s o f s o c i a l i rn lper ia l i sm and s o c i a lp a c i f i s m in t h e s h a r p e s t manner, and whichp u r s u e s t h e aim o f t h e p I ~ o l e t a r i a nr e v o l u t i o nw i t h a u d a c i t y and d e t e r r n i i n a t i o n , w i l l it s u cc e e d in r a l l y i n g t h e maSHes o f t h e p r o l e ta r i a n youth again u n d e r 1:he r e d b a n n e r o f t h es o c i a l r e v o l u t i o n .

But if t h e s e s o r t s o f b e t : r a y a l s do b o t h e ryou, keep r i g h t on r e a d i n g , buy a s u b s c r i p t i o nto o ~ r p a p e r , Spartacist Bri ta in and come too u r p u b l i c m e e t i n g . F i n d out why the , former

But nothing shook t h e c o n f e r e n c e l i k e t h eq u e s t i o n o f a f f i l i a t i o n t o t h e USec. A number o fyouth proudly d i s p l a y e d home-made badges p r oc l a i m i n g , 'How Dare You Presume I ' m i n t h e 1MB?One punk f rom C a r d i f f swore l o u d l y t h a t 18 o ft h e 20 members i n C a r d i f f would s p l i t i f t h e IMGa t t e m p t e d to ' s m a s h up R e v o l u t i o n by f o r c i n g itto a f f i l i a t e . In t h e u p s h o t , R e v o l u t i o n Youthd i d v o t e in f a v o u r o f a f f i l i a t i o n , though moret h a n 20 p e r c e n t o f t h e d e l e g a t e s (12 o u t o f 55)baulked. The o p p o s i t i o n seemed to c o n s i s t o f as t r a n g e amalgam o f IMG y o u t h b e n t on u n i t y w i t hRebel w i t h o u t t h e encumbrance of a u s e l e s s I nt e r n a t i o n a l combined w i t h a y o u t h s e p a r a t i s th o s t i l i t y to a d u l t c o n t r o l . But t h e d e b a t e it -s e l f was l e s s l i g h t t h a n h e a t , f u l l of v i t u p e ra t i v e a c c u s a t i o n s and c h a r a c t e r i s a t i o n s o f ' comr a d e s as l i a r s and worse .

As t h e S p a r t a c i s t League l e a f l e t d i s t r i b u t e dto t h e c o n f e r e n c e (and r e p r i n t e d below) exp l a i n e d , t h e r e i s no s h o r t a g e o f good p o l i t i c a lr e a s o n s f o r disavowing t h e USec, b u t y o u t h v a nguardism and u n i t y manoeuvres w i t h t h e r e f o r m i s tSWP a r e n o t among them. The Ihm' s u n p r i n c i p l e du n i t y manoeuvres and f a k e - i n d e p e n d e n t f r o n tg r o u p o p e r a t i o n s s e r v e o n l y to d i s o r i e n t youthi n t e n t on f i g h t i n g f o r communis t r e v o l u t i o n . Ina g e n u i n e r e v o l u t i o n a r y youth o r g a n i s a t i o n t h emembers would f i g h t o u t p r o g r a m m a t i c d i f f e r e n c e sa l o n g s i d e t h e c a d r e o f t h e r e v o l u t i o n a ry p a r t yin t h e p r o c e s s o f t r a i n i n g to become l i f e t i m er e v o l u t i o n a r y . c a d r e thems-el v e s . In ReTOlut ionYouth however, youth a r e thrown a sop of s e l fc o n t r o l w h i l e i n r e a l i t y b e i n g c o n t r o l l e d byIMG members , w i t h o u t a c c e s s t o t h e p o l i t i c a lf i g h t s in t h e p a r e n t o r g a n i s a t i o n . And t h e

m a n y - t i m e s - p r o v e n b a n k r u p t IMG/USec programmei s not t h e r o a d to s o c i a l i s t r e v o l u t i o n .

N a t i o n a l S e c r e t a r y o f t h e S o c i a l i s t Youth League ,P h i l Moore , i s now a member o f t h e S p a r t a c i s tLeague (SL) . Comrade P h i l w i l l t e l l you what ani n t r a n s i g e n t r e v o l u t i o n a ry p o l i c y i s - - he g o te x p e l l e d f rom t h e SYL and t h e Workers S o c i a l i s tLeague f o r f i g h t i n g f o r one

Labour loyalism, debating cops, scabbing ...Do you want to r a l l y t h e m a s s e s o f p r o l e t

a r i a n youth t o t h e r e d b a n n e r o f s o c i a l r e v o l ut i o n ? Then you w o n ' t f i n d a p l a c e i n R e v o l u t i o n- - it wants to r a l l y them t o t h e p i n k r a g ofs o c i a l democracy. The IMG t a k e s t h e t a c t i c ofv o t i n g Labour when it s e r v e s to expose t h e p a rl i a m e n t a r i a n c l a s s t r a i t o r s and t u r n s it i n t o ap r i n c i p l e : t h r o u g h t h i c k and t h i n w i t h t h e p a r t yo f Cal laghan/Benn The IHG e v e n t o l d workers tovote Labour l a s t y e a r when C a l l a g h a n s t o o d ont h e r e c o r d o f S o c i a l C o n t r a c t s t r i k e - b r e a k i n g ,wage c o n t r o l and t h e Lib-Lab c o a l i t i o n . Now w i t h'Rock a g a i n s t T h a t c h e r and ' Yo u t h a g a i n s t t h eTo r i e s t h e y a r e h e l p i n g to c h a n n e l h a t r e d f o rt h e Tory government i n t o new i l l u s i o n s i nLabour.

When t h e r e r e a l l y was a c h a n c e to b e a t backt h e Tory o f f e n s i v e - - and b r e a k t h e s t r a n g l eh o l d o f t h e Labour t r a i t o r s o v e r t h e w o r k i n gc l a s s - - by f i g h t i n g t o t u r n t h e s t e e l s t r i k ei n t o a g e n e r a l s t r i k e , it t o o k t h e IMG weeks toeven d e c i d e a g e n e r a l s t r i k e m i g h t be a goodi d e a . And even t h e n it was m o s t l y c o n c e r n e d w i t h

k i c k i n g t h e To r i e s o u t and p u t t i n g Labour inWhile t h e h a r d - f i g h t i n g s t e e l m e n were b a t t l i n gt h e c o p s ~ t H a d f i e l d s , t h e IMG was o f f e r i n g i t sr e a d e r s a view' f rom t h e i n s i d e o f t h e s c a bp l a n t , and Ta r i q A l i was going o u t o f h i s way top r o v i d e a p u b l i c r e l a t i o n s p l a t f o r m f o r t h ec o p s hy' e n g a g i n g them in p o l i t e d e b a t e whethero r n o t t h e y were u n n e c e s s a r i l y b r u t a l in en

f o r c i n g t h e l a w . IMG s u p p o r t e r s a t BirminghamU n i v e r s i t y e v e n r e f u s e d t o d i s t r i b u t e a p e t i t i o ni n i t i a t e d by t h e S p a r t a c i s t S o c i e t y dem2nding as t u d e n t u n i o n m e e t i n g to d i s c u s s s u p p o r t f o r

SPARTACIST BRITAINI


5/8

t h e s t e e l s t r i k e .Do you want t o f i g h t w i t h a u d a c i t y f o r t h e

p r o l e t a r i a n r e v o l u t i o n - - o r do you want tospend your l i f e f i g u r i D g o u t excuSes f o r s c a bbing? The l a t e s t Revolution i n t e r v i e w s a youngRover SOl worker who t h o u g h t it was ' t o t a l l y d i s g u s t i n g ' f o r Te r r y Duffy t o o r d e r ' h i s memb e r s to c r o s s t h e p i c k e t l i n e ' . Amen But Duffyi s an open r e f o r m i s t and c l a s s t r a i t o r - - i s n ' tit e v e n more d i s g u s t i n g f o r t h e s u p p o s e d l y r ev o l u t i o n a r y IMG to o r d e r i t s s u p p o r t e r s to c r o s st h e p i c k e t l i n e ? But t h a t i s j u s t what t h e y d i d .Ask SOl s t e w a r d P a t Hickey to t e l l j o u about t h e

' d i f f i c u l t d e c i s i o n ' he made i n c r o s s i n g t h eRover p i c k e t l i n e . Ask him how ' d i f f i c u l t ' itwas f o r him to thumb h i s n o s e a t s t r i k e m i l it a n t s who wanted to know i f he i n t e n d e d to walkt h r o u g h t h e i r p i c k e t l i n e by r e p l y i n g , 'What doyou t h i n k I ' m g o i n g to do, f l y o v e r i t ? ' Ask him

..,:Ii.

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about t h e SOl worker whom Hickey h e l p e d expelf rom a Leyland A c t i o n Commit tee m e e t i n g b e c a u s ehe wanted to t a l k about t h e ' d i f f i c u l t d e c i s i o n 'he made - - to respect and h e l p t o b u i l d t h ep i c k e t l i n e

T h a t ' s t h e lUG's way o f ' t u r n i n g t o i n d u s t r y ' ... T h e r e - . i s . a n a t h e r . wa:y----The .Americ.an. t.r..a. uniQ.\} _

m i l i t a n t s s u ~ p o r t e dby t h e S p a r t a c i s t League/USand i t s y o u t h s e c t i o n , t h e S p a r t a c u s Youth

League , d o n ' t d e b a t e c o p s , i n t e r v i e w s c a b s andc r o s s p i c k e t l i n e s . T h ~ yf i g h t t h e b o s s e s , andt h e y f i g h t to win workers to t h e T r o t s k y i s tTr a n s i t < i o n a l Programme. For example , t h e r e ' sJ a n e M a rg o l i s , a l o n g t i m e e l e c t e d u n i o n o f f i c i a li n t h e San F r a n c i s c o t e l e p h o n e w o r k e r s u n i o n andmember o f t h e M i l i t a n t A c t i o n Caucus i n t h eunion. For h e r r e c o r d o f f i g h t i n g t h e phone company and f o r want ing to speak out a g a i n s t c a p i -

, t a l i s t p o l i t i c i a n Jimmy C a r t e r ' s u n i o n - b a s h i n gand a n t i - S o v i e t warmonger ing p o l i c i e s , M a rg o l i s 'was dragged o f f t h e f l o o r o f l a s t J u l y ' s a n n u a ln a t i o n a l u n i o n c o n v e n t i o n (where she was ane l e c t e d d e l e g a t e ) by C a r t e r ' s S e c r e t S e r v i c e .Tens o f t h o u s a n d s o f t r a d e u n i o n i s t s i n t h e USand e l s e w h e r e r a l l i e d to M a rg o l i s ' d e f e n c ea g a i n s t t h i s u n p r e c e d e n t e d c a s e o f governmenth a r a s s m e n t o f u n i o n m i l i t a n t s .

Fighting against fascism and imperialist war

Do you want to f i n d out what Tr o t s k y meantby c o n c e s s i o n s to s o c i a l p a c i f i s m ? Take a looka t how Revolut io l ' l and t h e nm ' f i g h t ' r a c i s m -w i t h 'Rocks a g a i n s t Racism' and t h e A n t i NaziLeague a l l i a n c e w i t h L i b e r a l s , L p r d s and b is h o p s . While t h e lUG was r o c k i n g away a t t h e NLC a r n i v a l 2 in . September 1978, t h e S p a r t a c i s tLeague and p t h e r m i l i t a n t a n t i - f a s c i s t s weret r y i n g t o d e f e n d B r i c k Lane, where t h e ~ a s c i s t st h r e a t e n e d to march. But t h e r e v o l u t i o n a r y answer t o p a c i f i s m i s n o t s m a l l - g r o u p a d v e n t u r i s m ,b u t mass m o b i l i s a t i o n s c e n t e r e d on t h e o r g a n i s e dw o r k i n g c l a s s t o r e p e l t h e f a s c i s t s . T h a t ' s whatwe h a v e fought f o r - - l i k e when 500 p e o p l e , p r im a r i l y b l a c k c a r w o r k e r s , m o b i l i s e d f o r an SL' i n i t i a t e d d e m o n s t r a t i o n i n D e t r o i t l a s t Novembera g a i n s t a t h r e a t e n e d f a s c i s t march. And it hapened a g a i n s e v e r a l months l a t e r , when 1200t r a d e u n i o n i s t s and l e f t i s t s in San F r a n c i s c ot u r n e d o u t in r e s p o n s e to a Nazi p l a n to ' c e l eb r a t e ' H i t l e r ' s b i r t h d a y on A p r i l 1 9 . T h i s wast h e ' f i r s t s o c i a l i s t - i n i t i a t e d a n t i - f a s c i s t dem ~ n s t r a t i o ni n t h e US i n d e c a d e s t ~ w nt h eo f f i c i a l s u p p o r t o f a b r o a d s e c t i o n o f t h e t r a d eu n i o n movement. Was t h e American SWP a t e i t h e ro f t h e s e d e m o n s t r a t i o n s ? H e l l no I t was p r obably o f f somewhere t r y i n g t o e x p l a i n how t h emurderous fasc i s t s had a ' r i gh t ' to take to the

JUNE 1980

' s t r e e t s t o spew o u t t h e i r r a c e - h a t e f i l t h .Or t ~ k ea l o o k a t t h e l a t e s t Revolution's

e n t h u s i a s t i c d e s c r i p t i o n o f t h e ' new a n t i - w a rand a n t i - d r a f t movements ' in t h e US. The S p a rt a c u s Youth League has p l a y e d an a c t i v e r o l e int h o s e d e m o n s t r a t i o n s , n o t w i t h t h e p a c i f i s t' a n t i - m i l i t a r i s m ' b e i n g p u s h e d by Revolut ion andt h e American SWP but by s t a n d i n g up f o u r s q u a r ein d e f e n c e o f t h e S o v i e t Union a g a i n s t C a r t e r ' sa n t i - S o v i e t war d r i v e . By t a k i n g s i d e s .

And if you want to condemn s o c i a l i m p e r i a l i s m ,t h e p l a c e to s t a r t i s by condemning t h e nm si n i t i a l r e s p o n s e t o t h e S o v i e t m i l i t a r y i n t e r

v e n t i o n i n A f g h a n i s t a n . Socialist Challenge's' S o v i e t Troops Out o f A f g h a n i s t a n ' l i n e was soc l o s e t o t h e i m p e r i a l i s t s ' own l i n e , t h a t e v e nt h e Times c o n g r a t u l a t e d t h e IMG f o r t h i ~f o r t hr i g h t s t a n d a g a i n s t ' S o v i e t a g g r e s s i o n ' . ' T h i sp o s i t i o n was so o p e n l y r e a c t i o n a r y t h a t t h e lUG

had to b a c k t r a c k , s e t t l i n g f o r t h e s a f e r b u to n l y s l i g h t l y l e s s r e a c t i o n a r y l i n e t h a t condemned t h e S o v i e t i n v a s i o n b u t r i g h t l y f i g u r e dt h a t S o v i e t t r o o p s o u t would mean a v i c t o r y f o rr e a c t i o n in A f g h a n i s t a n . Even Revolution d i db e t t e r t h a n t h a t , coming o u t i n o p p o s i t i o n t o' . t l } L i w e . r . . i ; l i $ ~ - , - - o f ( E : l l l S i ' y ~a ~ i l I . 1 .t h ~ U S S R _ ~__around t h e A f g h a n i s t a r i q u e s t i o n . . . . In t h i ss i t u a t i o n we must d e f e n d t h e S o v i e t w o r k e r s '

s t a t e a g a i n s t i m p e r i a l i s m . ' But it too c a l l e dt h e S o v i e t i n t e r v e n t ~ o n'a g r a v e e r r o r ' .

What was t h e g r a v e e r r o r ? Not a l l o w i n g t h emad m u l l a h s to s h o o t more s c h o o l t e a c h e r s i n t h eb a c k , o r t o s e l l more young g i r l s i n t o s l a v e r yf o r t h e ' b r i d e - p r i c e ' o f a few g o a t s ? Tr o t s k yi s t s d o n ' t h a v e to be t o l d t h a t t h e Kremlinb u r e a u c r a c y i s c o u n t e r r e v o l u t i o n a r y , b u t t h i st i m e t h e y were s u p p r e s s i n g r e a c t i o n n o t r e v o l ut i o n - - and d e f e n d i n g t h e S o v i e t s t a t e as w e l lOur l i n e , t h e T r o t s k y i s t l i n e , was 'Hail RedArmy ' While , the IMG, had it b e e n h o n e s t inc a r r y i n g o u t i t s l i n e , s h o u l d have o r g a n i s e d ap r o t e s t o u t s i d e t h e S o v i e t Embassy, t h e SL o rg a n i s e d one o u t s i d e t h e US Embassy, c h a n t i n gl o u d and c l e a r : ' H a i l Red A;my Smash C a r t e r ' sa n t i - S o v i e t war t h r e a t s Extend t h e s o c i a l g a i n so f t h e O c t o b e r Revolut ion t o t h e Afghanp e o p l e s ' For C a r t e r and T h a t c h e r , t h e S o v i e tm i l i t a r y i n t e r v e n t i o n i n A f g h a n i s t a n was n o t h i n gb u t an e x c u s e to e s c a l ~ t et h e i r a n t i - S o v i e t cam

p a i g n , a campaign which t h e i m p e r i a l i s t s havebeen conduct ing to one e x t e n t o r a n o t h e r e v e rs i n c e t h e B o l s h e v i k s s e i z e d power in 1 9 1 7 . Yett h e e n t i r e USec e i t h e r came o u t o p e n l y on t h esame s i d e as C a r t e r / T h a tc h e r o r e l s e t r i e d toduck t h e main i s s u e - - d e f e n c e o f t h e USSR. T h i si s not o n l y c o w a r d l y b u t d a n g e r o u s . The i m p e r ia l i s t s ' war d r i v e w i l l n o t be s topped t h r o u g hl i b e r a l p a c i f i s t r u b b i s h about , t h e war d a n g e r,b u t only t h r o u g h an i n t r a n s i g e n t r e v o l u t i o n a r yp o l i c y which t a k e s as i t s s t a r t i n g p o i n t t h em o b i l i s a t i o n o f t h e working c l a s s against theimperialists and f o r the Soviet Union

Tailing mass movemen tsBut an i n t r a n s i g e n t r e v o l u t i o n a ry p o l i c y is

t h e l a s t t h i n g you s h o u l d e x p e c t f rom t h e IUG/USec o r Revolut ion. Even t h e IMG must r e a l i s et h a t t h e y c a n ' t win r e v o l u t i o n a r y - m i n d e d workingc l a s s y o u t h by w h i t e w a s h i n g s c a b b i n g and a p i n gi m p e r i a l i s t r h e t o r i c a g a i n s t t h e S o v i e t Union,so t h e y l e t R e v o l u t i o n t a k e a s l i g h t l y more l e f tl i n e and t a l k a b o u t ' i n d e p e n d e n c e ' . The p o s it i o n s of t h e IMG we've d e s c r i b e d in t h i s l e a fl e t a r e n o t s i m p l y i s o l a t e d m i s t a k e s o r m i su n d e r s t a n d i n g s . The IMG cannot p u r s u e t h e aim oft h e p r o l e t a r i a n r e v o l u t i o n w i t h a u d a c i t y and de -

t e r m i n a t i o n , b e c a u s e it does n o t h a v e t h e p r ogramme o f p r o l e t a r i a n r e v o l u t i o n . The IMG i s notT r o t s k y i s t , but P a b l o i t e . I t i s b a s e d on t h econcept ion put fo ward by one Michel P a b l o moret h a n t h i r t y y e a r s ago t h a t something o t h e r t h a nt h e w o r k i n g c l a s s g u i d e d by a T r o t s k y i s t p a r t yc a n o v e r t h r o w c a p i t a l i s m and open t h e r o a d tos o c i a l i s m - - w h e t h e r i t s p e a s a n t - b a s e d g u e rr i l l a s l e d by S t a l i s i s t s , o r ' T h i r d Wo r l d 'n a t i o n a l i s t s , o r e v e n t h e ' u n f o l d i n g d y n a m i c ' ,o f I s l a m i c r e a c t i o n . M i c h e l P a b l o i s no l o n g e rw i t h t h e USec, b u t h i s i d e a s r e m a i n . And w i t ht h a t p e r s p e c t i v e , t h e r e v o l u t io n a r y programme

becomes not t h e n e c e s s a r y i n s t r u m e n t f o r l e a di n g t h e o n l y r e v o l u t i o n a r y c l a s s u n d e r c a p it a l i s m , t h e w o r k i n g c l a s s , b u t an u n n e c e s s a r yo b s t a c l e t o l i q u i d a t i n g i n t o t h e l a t e s t ' m a s smovement ' .

And t h a t g o e s f o r any mass m o v e m ~ n teven ,-as d e m o n s t r a t e d by t h e USec' s c h e e r ' i n g on t h e' I r a n i a n r e v o l u t i o n ' a y e a r ago - - mass movements f o r social reaction. R e v o l u t i o n spends al o t o f t i m e t a l k i n g a b o u t , o r g a n i s i n g ' a n t if a s c i s t g i g s ' , but s ~ e how l o n g a r o c k g i g wouldl a s t in Tehran t o d a y b e f o r e t h e mad m u l l a h s s e n tt h e i r mobs in to b u s t it up. With a T r o t s k y i s tp e r s p e c t i v e it was c l e a r f rom t h e beginning t h a tt h e l i v e s o f t h e I r a n i a n m a s s e s would n o t be improved i n t h e l e a s t i f t h e t y r a n n i c a l shah wasr e p l a c e d w i t h t h e t y r a n n i c a l Khomeini , t h a t t h eo n l y way forward was t o m o b i l i s e t h e I r a n i a nworkers i n s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t t h e shah and t h em u l l a h s to f i g h t f o r workers r e v o l u t i o n . Butt h a t was not t h e . p e r s p e c t i v e o f t h e IMG/USec. AslUG s u p p o r t e r Azar Ta b a r i now admits:

It d o e s not bode w e l l - f o r t h e f u t u r e o f I r a nt h a t t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l l e f th a s b e e n u n a b l e to d i s t i n g u i s h between ad e e p e n i n g ~ r o c e s so f permanent r e v o l u t i o n and 'a r i s e in i r r a t i o n a l f a n a t i c i s m s e r v i n g toc o n s o l i d a t e t h e r u l e o f a r e p r e s s i v e and r ea c t i o n a r y t h e o c r a c y . ' (Socialist Challenge, 7F e b r u a r y )

No, it d o e s n ' t . So why go w i t h t h a t m a j o r i t y ? Gow i t h t h e m i n o r i t y - - t h e o n l y o r g a n i s a t i o n int h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l l e f t which d i d s e e what washappening i n I r a n and had a f i g h t i n g r e v. o l u t i o na r y programme, t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l S p a r t a c i s tt e n d e n c y.

T h e r e i s c l e a r l y a b u r n i n g need f o r a r e v o l ut i o n a r y y o u t h o r g a n i s a t i o n i n t h i s c o u n t r y . Butj t bas . iQ . be h"SJ'ld f i r m l y o n _ . 1 h e ~ Q l u t i 9 n ~ 1 : Y - . _programme. The S p a r t a c u s Youth League i n t h e US

is s u c h an o r g a n i s a t i o n - - it d o e s n ' t have t o

work o u t i t s r e l a t i o n s w i t h o t h e r p a r t i e s ' bec a u s e it w i l l i n g l y s u b m i t s i t s e l f t o t h e p o l i t ic a l d i s c i p l i n e o f t h e r e v o l u t i o n a r y p a r t y , boundto it by a common programme. Wi t h i n t h e f rame-work o f o r g a n i s a t i o n a l i n d e p e n d e n c e , t h e S p a rt a c u s Youth League i s p a r t . o f a common movementw i t h t h e SL/US, w i t h f u l l a c c e s s to i t s i n t e r n a lp o l i t i c a l l i f e . I t s e e k s to r e c r u i t y o u t h to t h er e v o l u t i o n a r y w o r k i n g c l a s s p o l i t i c s o f T r o t s k yi sm and to t r a i n them to become commit ted p r of e s s i o n a l r e v o l u t i o n i s t s who w i l l p l a y t h e i rp a r t as c a d r e s i n t h e r e v o l u t i o n a r y p a r t y . I tdoes not j u s t m i n d l e s s l y e n t h u s e over workerss t r u g g l e s , b u t ' s e e k s t o become t h e s t u d e n t -y o u t h a u x i l i a r y o f t h e communist o p p o s i t i o nw i t h i n t h e l a b o r movement ' ( s e e Y o u t h ~Classand Party, t h e b 'as ic programnia t ic document o ft p e S p a r t a c u s Youth L e a g u e ) . .

So if you want t o b u i l d an ' i n d e p e n d e n t y o u t ho r g a n i s a t i o n ' which w i l l condone scabbing, d eb a t e w i t h c o p s , p l a y up to J im C a l l a g h a n and

Tony Benn, and h a i l as ' r e v o l u t i o n a r y ' a movement t o e n s l a v e women, j o i n R e v o l u t i o n . I f youwant to make a communis t r e v o l u t i o n , r e a d o u rm a t e r i a l , d i s c u s s w i t h o u r comrades , and j o i nt h e S p a r t a c i s t League .

:Monthly paperof the Spartacus 'Youth Leagueyouth sectionof the SL US

Single copies: 15p

aw ~ ] j Hi I1,200Protest Nazisin San ~ r l n " i ~ f t A

For subscriptions write to: Spartacus Youth Publishing CoBox 825, Canal Street Station,New York, New York 10013, USA

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orkers ower .in change on USSR

StillThirdCamaistsatI ~ t h e mad r u s h away from S o v i e t d e f e n c i s m by

o s t e n s i b l e T r o t s k y i s t s succumbing t o t h e p r e ss u r e o f t h e i m p e r i a l i s t a n t i - S o v i e t o u t c r y , one

o r g a n i s a t i o n seems to have b o u g h t a t i c k e t int h e o p p o s i t e d i r e c t i o n . In a , t i n y bOX, headed' S t a t e m e n t ' and accompanying a s p r e a d o fa r t i c l e s on A f g h a n i s t a n in t h e F e b r u a r y i s s u e o fi t s newspaper, t h e c e n t r i s t Workers ' Power (WP)group announced t h a t :

'Dur ing t h e p a s t y e a r Workers, Power has beeni n v o l v e d in a r e a s s e s s m e n t o f o u r c h a r a c t e ri s a t i o n o f t h e USSR as a ~ t a t e c a p i t a l i s t andi m p e r i a l i s t c o u n t r y. In analYSing t h e e v e n t s

' s u r r o u n d i n g t h e i n v a s i o n o f A f g h a n i s t a n andd e v e l o p i n g a s t r a t e g y f o r r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s int h e f a c e ' o f a new c o l d war o f f e n s i v e we foundit impossible to advance a p r i n C i p l e d r e v o l ut i o n a r y programme from any o t h e r s t a n d p o i n tt h a n t h a t o f c h a r a c t e r i s i n g t h e USSR as a deg e n e r a t e d w o r k e r s ' s t a t e .'These a r t i c l e s a r e a l l w r i t t e n f rom t h a ts t a n d p o i n t . '

But were t h e y ? A p r i n c i p l e d r e v o l u t io n a r y

programme in response , to t h e S o v i e t m i l i t a r yi n t e r v e n t i o n and t h e s h r i l l i m p e r i a l i s t warmonger ing which g r e e t e d it was e n c a p s u l a t e d intwo s logans r a i s e d by t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l S p a r t ac i s t t e n d e n c y : H a i l Red Army Extend s o c i a lg a i n s o f t h e O c t o b e r R e v o l u t i o n t o t h e Afghanp e o p l e s We s a i d 'l a1:l Red Army' b e c a u s e t h i swas not s imply an e q u i v a l e n t o f t h e S o v i e t inv a s i o n s o f Finland and Poland in 1939, whenunder t h e s i g n of t h e H i t l e r / S t a l i n p a c t t h ~Kremlin b u r e a u c r a c y e m b r o i l e d t h e Red Army inm i l i t a r y c o n f l i c t s which, once engaged, n e c e ss i t a t e d a d e f e n c i s t s t a n c e . In A f g h a n i s t a n t h eS o v i e t i n t e r v e n t i o n was on t h e s i d e of s o c i a lp r o g r e s s and was d e e p l y j u s t from U I I v,'r Js ta r t . The Red Army came in on t h e s i d e o f al e f t - n a t i o n a l i s t , p r o - S o v i e t r e g i m e a g a i n s t aCIA-backed f e u d a l - r e a c t i o n a r y o f f e n s i v e whoseprogramme was t h b b r i d e p r i c e , t h e v e i l andd e a t h f o r a l l s c h o o l t e a c h e r s .

And we demanded ' E x t e n d t h e s o c i a l g a i n s oft h e October R e v o l u t i o n t o t h e Afghan pe 'oples ' ,as a c o n c r e t e and l i v i n g p e r s p e c t i v e f o r s o c i a lr e v o l u t i o n ' i n t h i s w r e t c h e d l y backward c o u n t r y.The S o v i e t s t a t e and Red Army w i l l o n l y becomea g a i n t h e i n s t r u m e n t s o f a t r u l y r e v o l u t i o n a r yi n t e r n a t i o n a l i s t p o l i c y a f t e r t h e o u s t e r o f t h eS t a l i n i s t b u r e a u c r a c y by T r o t s k y i s t - l e d p o l i t ic a l r e v o l u t i o n . But t h e S t a l i n i s t c o n t r o l l e d RedArmy h a s b e f o r e e n s u r e d t h e e s t a b l i s h m e n t o fc o l l e c t i v i s e d p r o p e r t y forms. Even t h e c r e a t i o nof a deformed workers s t a t e would be a m a s s i v es t e p forward f o r t h e o p p r e s s e d Afghani masseS.

Workers P o w e r ' s p o s i t i o n , on t h e c o n t r a r y,d e m o n s t r a t e d t h a t t h e i r ~ p r o g r a m m eon t h i s keyq u e s t i o n o f t h e p r o l e t a r i a n r e v o l u t i o n - - t h eRussian Q u e s t i o ~- - s t i l l f e l l q u a l i t a t i v e l ys h o r t o f Tr o t s k y i s m . WP's l i g h t a t t i t u d e towardst h i s q u e s t i o n - - r e f l e c t e d in t h e f a c t t h a t f o rw e l l o v e r a y e a r , i n t h e m i d s t of an e s c a l a t i n ga n t i - S o v i e t campaign by t h e US, WP had e f f e ct i v e l y no p o s i t i o n a t a l l on t h e c l a s s c h a r a c t e ro f t h e USSR - - was d r a m a t i c a l l y u n d e r l i n e d whent h e y ' e x p l a i n e d ' t h e i r l i n e change in a box cont a i n i n g a l l o f s e v e n t y words . And i n t h e a c i df

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o Sprtlcist .itli8: 1.50 f o r 10 i s s u e so Jlilt Iucri,tial:

5 f o r 24 i s s u e s WORKERS VANGUARD( f o r t n i g h t l y ' M a r x i s t p a p e r o f SL/US)p l u s SPARTACIST BRITAIN f o r d u r a t i o nof s u b s c r i p t i o n p l u s SPARTACIST ( i S tt h e o r e t i c a l j o u r n a l )

Make payable/poat to :8par t ac ia t PublicatioDS PO BoK 1811 Loadoa 1ICIR 8JE

t e s t o f A f g h a n i s t a n WP denounced t h e S o v i e ti n t e r v e n t i o n as ' o v e r w h e l m i n g l y r e a c t i o n a r y ' ,j o i n i n g t h e i m p e r i a l i s t / s o c i a l - d e m o c r a t i c c h o r u s

o f condemnat ion.As James P Cannon s a i d , 'The R u s s i a n Q u e s t i o n

i s t h e q u e s t i o n o f t h e r e v o l u t i o n . ' Wi t h o u t ac o r r e c t p r o g r a m m a t i c u n d e r s t a n d i n g on t h i s q u e st i o n o f q u e s t i o n s it i s i m p o s s i b l e to c o n s t r u c ta r e v o l u t i o n a r y p a r t y c a p a b l e o f l e a d i n g t h ep r o l e t a r i a t to t h e c o n q u e s t of s t a t e power. ButWP's j u s t i f i c a t i o n s f o r i t s p o s i t i o n on Afghani s t a n c o n f i r m t h a t i t s b r e a k w i t h t h e p o l i t i c so f t h e ' t h i r d camp ' i s a t b e s t p a r t i a l , i f notc o m p l e t e l y s u p e r f i c i a l .

WP c l a i m s t h a t t h e S o v i e t i n t e r v e n t i o n wasr e a c t i o n a r y b e c a u s e it w i l l s t r e n g t h e n t h er i g h t i s t f o r c e s i n A f g h a n i s t a n and h e l p ' cementt h e i r t i e s w i t h w o r l d i m p e r i a l i s m ' . But i f t h i swere a v a l i d r e a s o n f o r conQemning a m i l i t a r yi n t e r v e n t i o n , t h e n it would be n e c e s s a r y t o condemn as r e a c t i o n a r y t h e Red Army's a t t e m p t tot a k e Warsaw in 1921, when t h e Red Army was anagency o f t h e B o l s h e v i k government of L e n i n andTr o t s k y. I n d e e d it would l e a v e one i n t h e p o s i

t i o n o f a rg u i n g t h e r e a c t i o n a r y S t a l i n i s t l i n ef o r p e a c e f u l c o e x i s t e n c e , s i n c e v i r t u a l l y anyf o r e i g n m i l i t a r y i n t e r v e n t i o n or even p o l i t i c a la i d by a workers s t a t e ( i n c l u d i n g a h e a l t h y one)would n e c e s s a r i l y a r o u s e i m p e r i a l i s t o r r i g h t i ~ th o s t i l i t y . WP's argument i s i d e n t i c a l toS t a l i n ' s argument f o r d i s s o l v i n g t h e Comintern .

F u r t h e r m o r e , a rg u e s WP, t h e S o v i e t i n t e rv e n t i o n w i l l h e l p s t r a n g l e any ' i n d e p e n d e n t mob i l i s a t i o n o f t h e o p p r e s s e d o f A f g h a n i s t a n ' .Even assuming such an ' i n d e p e n d e n t m o b i l i s i t i o n 'were a p o s s i b i l i t y in a country so s o c i a l l ybackward as A f g h a n i s t a n , t h e o n l y ' i n d e p e n d e n tm o b i l i s a t i o n ' a t t h e t i m e o f t h e S o v i e t i n v a s i o nwas t h a t o f f o r c e s o f I s l a m i c r e a c t i o n (whichwere r e a l l y armed and s u p p o r t e d by t h e US andP a k i s t a n ) . In t h i s c a s e t h e Red Army was not en -

I gaged i n c r u s h i n g a p r o l e t a r i a n u p s u rg e ( a s inHungary 1956) n o r a s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t n a t i o n a lo p p r e s s i o n ( l i k e t h e E r i t r e a n s i n E t h i o p i a t od a y ) . U n w i l l i n g to back , the f e u d a l i s t A f g h a n im u l l a h s , WP c a s t s a r o u n d d e s p e r a t e l y f 'or o t h e r' i n d e p e n d e n t ' f o r c e s , l o o k i n g f o r ' t h e s e l f o rg a n i s a t i o n of t h e Afghan p r o l e t a r i a t and f e u d a le l e m e n t s [ ? ] to o r g a n i s e t h e i r own s t a t e power,independent o f t h e S t a l i n i s t s and t h e i m p e r i a li s t s . When ~ t a x Shachtman argued f o r ,a s i m i l a r' t h i r d camp ' c o u r s e in o c c u p i e d Poland in 1939- - a c o u n t r y w i t h an advanced and h i s t o r i c a l l yd e v e l o p e d p r o l e t a r i a t - - Tr o t s k y r e p l i e d :""

'The advanced workers i n e a s t e r n P o l a n d c o u l dj u s t i f i a b l y s a y : A s imul taneOUs i n s u r r e c t i o na g a i n s t H i t l e r and S t a l i n in a c o u n t r y o c c upied by t r o o p s m i g h t p e r h a p s be a r r a n g e d v e r yc o n v e n i e n t l y from t h e Bronx; b u t h e r e , l oc a l l y , it is more d i f f i c u l t . We s h o u l d l i k eto h e a r Burnham's and S h a c h t m a n ' s answer to a' c o n c r e t e p o l i t i c a l q u e s t i o n ' : What s h a l l wedo between now and t h e coming i n s u r r e c t i o n ? "In t h e meant ime, t h e commanding s t a f f o,f t h eS o v i e t army c a l l e d upon t h e p e a s a n t s andworkers to s e i z e t h e l a n d and t h e f a c t o r i e s . '

In Defence o Marxism)The S o v i e t m i l i t a r y i n t e r v e n t i o n gave a s s i s

t a n c e t o a regime i n s t i t u t i n g s i g n i f i c a n t r eforms in a p r e - f e u d a l s o c i e t y . And i f S h a c h tman's s e a r c h f o r an ' i n d e p e n d e n t ' f o r c e was a bs u r d in P o l a n d , WP's is doubly so in A f g h a n is t a n , whose t i n y p ~ o l e t a r i a tc o m p r i s e s a mereone p e r c e n t o f t h e laboup force. I t i s compara b l e n o t to t h e ~ l l b u t e c o n o m i c a l l y - p o w e r f u land s t r a t e g i C working c l a s s e s o f p r er e v o l u t i o r i a r y R u s s i a o r I r a n tOday - - which a r ec e n t r a l t d t h e p e r s p e c t i v e o f p r o l e t a r i a n r e v ol u t i o n - - b u t to t h e s i t u a t i o n i n t h e h i d e o u s l ybaCkward Moslem b o r d e r l a n d s o f R u s s i a b e f o r e1917. T h e ' f a r c i c a l q u a l i t y o f WP's p o s i t i o ns i m p l y u n d e r s c o r e s a d e e p l y r o o t e d o p p o r t u n i s tyearning f o r a ' t h i r d camp' which would haveshamed even t h e 1939 Shachtman. And t h e o b j e c to f it a l l i s to avoid t a k i n g an unambiguouss t a n d with t h e Red Army.

Indeed WP c h a rg e s us w i t h b e i n g S t a l i n op h i l e s f o r r a i s i n g t h e s lQgan, ' H a i l Red Army ' ,as s e v e r a l y e a r s ago t h e y s i m i l a r l y t o o k umbragea t o u r s l o g a n ' A l l I n d o c h i n a must go C o m m u n i s t ' .WP may have f o r m a l l y broken from t h e Rhachtman/C l i f f S o v i e t - d e f e a t i s t p o s i t i o n , b u t i s s h a r e s

t h e i r m e t h o d o l o g y.Thus a t a p u b l i c m e e t i n g i n S h e f f i e l d on

April 15 opkeps P o ~ e peditor Dave Hughs claimedt h a t t h e S o v i e t b u r e a u c r a c y was ' t h o r o u g h l yc o u n t e r r e v o l u t i o n a r y ' . T h i s i s e s s e n t i a l l y a r ep u d i a t i o n o f t h e T r o t s k y i s t a n a l y s i s o f t h eS t a l i n i s t b u r e a u c r a c y ' s dual character, which o fn e c e s s i t y f o r c e s it i n t h e l a s t a n a l y s i s to d ef e n d t h e c o l l e c t i v i s e d p r o p e r t y forms upop whichi t s c a s t e p r i v i l e g e s a r e b a s e d , even t h o u g h ing e n e r a l i t s c o u n t e r r e v o l u t i o n a r y n a t i o n a l i s t i cp o l i c i e s a r e c o u n t e r p o s e d t o t h e p r e s e r v a t i o nand e x t e n s i o n o f t h o s e p r o p e r t y forms. I t i st h i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g which s e p a r a t e s r e v o l u t i o n a r yMarxism from t h e p o s i t i ' o n s o f Shachtmanism andTony C l i f f ' s S o c i a l i s t Workers P a r t y ~ W P )ont h e one hand. And on t h e o t h e r. h a n d it i s t h ed i v i d i n g l i n e a g a i n s t P a b l o i s m , which s e e s noq u a l i t a t i v e d i s t i n c t i o n between a b u r e a u c r a t i ca l l y - l e d s o c i a l r e v o l u t i o n and a T r o t s k y i s t - l e ds o c i a l i s t r e v o l u t i o n based on t h e c o n s c i o u s mob i l i s a t i o n o f t h e p r o l e t a r i a t . The P a b l o i t e sdeny t h e n e c e s s i t y f o r workers p o l i t i c a l r e v o lu t i o n f o l l o w i n g S t a l i n i s t - l e d s o c i a l o v e r t u r n s

as in Vietnam and Cuba; c o n v e r s e l y , WP d e n i e s ,or a l t e r n a t e l y d i s m i s s e s as b e i n g in no way p r og r e s s i v e , t h e p o s s i b i l i t y o f t h e c r e a t i o n o f adeformed workers s t a t e in A f g h a n i s t a n . Were t h es o c i a l o v e r t u r n s i n E a s t e r n Europe a f t e r WorldWar I I t h e n iri no way p r o g r e s s i v e ? Or d i d n ' tt h e y happer i a t a l l ? Tr o t s k y c e r ~ a i n l tc o n s i d e r e da b u r e a u c r a t i c a l l y - i m p o s e d s o c i a l o v e r t u r n b o t hp o s s i b l e and p r o g r e s s i v e . 'The i n v a s i o n o f Pol a n d by t h e Red Army should, in t h e n a t u r e o ft h e c a s e , r e s u l t in t h e a b o l i t i o n o f p r i v a t ec a p i t a l i s t p r o p e r t y ' , he w r o t e , a d d i n g : ' T h i smeasure , r e v o l u t i o n a r y i n c h a r a c t e r - - " t h e exp r o p r i a t i o n o f t h e e x p r o p r i a t o r s " - - i s in t h i sc a s e a c h i e v e d in a m i l i t a r y - b u r e a u c r a t i cf a s h i o n ' In Defence o Marxism) . '

S i n c e b e i n g ' e x p e l l e d f rom C l i f f ' s s t a t ec a p i t ~ l i s tI n t e r n a t i o n a l S o c i a l i s t s (now SWP),t h e l e f t w a r d - m o v i n g c e n t r i s t s o f Workers Powerhave gone down a l o n g r o a d . But i f t h e i r f o r m a lb r e a k w i t h S o v i e t d e f e a t i s m is to be any moret h a n an e n t r y t i c k e t i n t o t h e f a m i l y o f f a k eTr o t s k y i s m , it ~ e q u i r e smuch more t h a n WP'sc u r r e n t t o o t h l e s s ' d e f e n c i s m ' . The o n l y c o n s i st e n t T r o t s k y i s t p o s i t i o n on t h e R u s s i a n q u e s t i o ni s t h a t u p h e l d by t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l S p a r t a c i s tt e n d e n c y. WP members who t a k e t h e i r r e c e n t ' l i n echange s e r i o u s l y would do w e l l to remember t h a tt h e i r b r e a k to t h e l e f t n o n e t h e l e s s f i n d s themo ~ t h e c o n c r e t e p r o g r a m m a t i c q u e s t i o n s r e l a t i n gto A f g h a n i s t a n in p o l i t i c a l harmony w i t h f a k eT r o t s k y i s t s moving to the r igh t , l i k e t h e I n t e rn a t i o n a l M a r x i s t Group and t h e Workers S o c i a l i s tL e a g ~ e .The c h o i c e i s c l e a r : forward to T r o t s k yism o r back i n t o t h e ' t h i r d camp ' swamp .

'HolyWar ..Continued from page 1)

p r i n t e d i n Intercontinental Press (2 J u n e ) t h eHKS h a s denounced t h e a n t i - c o m m u n i s t a s s a u l t sand t a k e n t h e s i d e o f t h e s t u d e n t s under a t t a c k .While t h e HKS s t i l l r e m a i n s l o c k e d w i t h i n t h ef ramework o f t h e ' I s l a m i c r e v o l u t i o n ' , s p e a k i n go f t h e s u p p o s e d ' g a i n s a c h i e v e d ' t h r o ~ g ht h em u l l a h - l e d i n s u r r e c t i o n o f F e b r u a r y 1979, i t sc a l l f o r t h e d e f e n c e o f t h e campuses p u t s it on

t h e o p p o s i t e s i d e o f a d e a d l y b a t t l e f rom i t s' s i s t e r ' USec group t h e HKE.

The HKE i n v e n t e d o u t o f whole c l o t h a f a b r ic a t i o n t h a t t h e m u r d e r s were commit ted n o t byt h e I s l a m i c f a n a i i c s (who t h e y c l a i m e d were o u tt o ' r e v o l u t i o n i z e t h e u n i v e r s i t i e s ' ) but byr i g h t - w i n g goon s q u a d s ' , m o b i l i s e d by ' t h e

I r a n i a n c a p i t a l i s t s ' . The d i f f e r e n c e e s c a p e s d e -

Workers Vanguard fortnightly newspaper of the Sl USJoint subscription wi th Spartacist Br itain: 5Single copies: 15pMake payable/write to:Spartacist Publications, PO Box 185. london WCIH SJE

SPARTACIST BRITAIN


7/8

t e c t i o n - - and, in any ca se , who m o b i l i s e dKhomeini ' s f i - r ing squads? Even SocialistChallenge (1 May) repo r t ed t h a t t h e a n t icommunist a t t a c k s were c a r r i e d ou t by ' g r o u p so f I s l ami c f a n a t i c s , t n e w e l l known " fo l l ower so f t h e l i n e o f t he Imam"' . The s i g n a l f o r ana s s a u l t was given by Khomeini h imse l f in as p e e c h r e a d by h i s son to a mass I ranian. NewYe a r ' s r a l l y on March 21. T h r e e days a f t e r , h e

war. Yet t h e HKE s t a t emen t s i nks to even lowerl e v e l s , a p p e a l i n g t o t h e ' B r o t h e r pasdars -t h e h a t e d c l e r i c a l m i l i t i a who a r e t h e main i ns t r u m e n t s f o r K h o m e i n i ' s a n n i h i l a t i o n campaigna g a i n s t t h e Kurds , Arabs , Azerba i j an i s and t h el e f t - - to t r a i n a mass army o f 2 million tof i g h t t h e U S / I r a q i menace

Fedayeen seek progressive clergyhad d e c l a r ed a gene ra l amnesty f o r t h e s h a h ' s Compared to t h e d i s g u s ti n g c a p i t u l a t i o n toSAVAK t o r t u r e r s and m i l i t a r y b u t c h e r s , r e l i g i o u s obscurant ism by such ' l e f t i s t s ' asK h ~ m e i n i s'message t o t h e n a t i o n ' was r epo r t ed t he pro-Moscow Tudeh P a r t y and t h e HKE, thei n t h e New York Times (22 March) : programme and a c t i o n s o f t h e Fedayeen g u e r r i l l a s

'He c a l l e d f o r a " r e v o l u t i o n i n t h e un ive r- seem p o s i t i v e l y m i l i t a n t . Founded t e n y e a r s agos i t i e s " t o p u rg e them of p r o f e s s o r s who have by t h e merger of groups l ed by i n d i v i d u a l s who" c o n n e c t i o n s w i t h t h e E a s t o r We s t " warned had broken from :rudeh and t h e s e c u l a r w i ~ go fa g a i n s t " i r r e s p o n s i b l e i n t e l l e c t u a i s " and, t h e b o u r g e o i s - n a t i o n a l i s t National Front , ' t h eina c l e a r r e f e r e n c e to t h e r a d i c a l gue r- Fedayeen a r e by f a r t h e m,ost s u b j e c t i v e l y ' . r e v -r i l l a s , s a i d t h a t "mixing Is lam and Marxism" o l u t i o n a r y c u r r e n t of any s i z e i n I r a n t o d ~ y .

, Thus t h e f i r s t demand i n t h e i r 'minimum' p ro -was wrong.gramme i s t h e d e s t r u c t i o n o f t h e ' dependent

The Mujahedeen r e fu sed t o j o i n t h e F e y d a y e ~ nc a p i t a l i s t s y s t e m ' . But a l t h o u g h t h ey have re -in defending t h e i r o f f i c e s because ' t o r e s i s t s i s t e d arms in hands t h e a t t a c k s of t h e pasdarsi s to f a l l i n t o t h e t r a p aimed a t making us ap - and government t r oops on t h e Kurds and t h epea r opposed t ~ t h e imam Khomeini: when i n f a c t Turkomans, they too t r e a c h e r o u s l y oppose t h ewe s u p p o r t him Le Monde, 22 A p r l . l ) . But t h e r i g h t t o s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n __ s ece s s ion fromi n t e n t and a u t h o r sh ip o f t h e ensuing a i t a c k s t h e P e r s i a n s t a t e __ f o r t h e s e n a t i o n a l min-were obvious to almost everyone. 'Be fo r e long o r i t i e s , l i m i t i n g t h e i r c a l l to ' complete auton-our p a r t ~ e sw i l l be o u t l a w e d ' , one Mujahedeen omy' wi th in t h e n a t i o n a l i s t framework o f t hemember p r e d i c t e d . ' I t i s a r e t ~ r nt o t h e days ' I r a n i a n r e v o l u t i o n ' . And t h e Fedayeen a r e proneof t h e Shah ' Manchester G u a r d ~ a nWeekly, 4 to condeming c o n f l i c t s among t h e ' p e o p l e ' . inMay). They even pub l i shed a l e t t e r to 'H i s which ca t ego ry t hey i nc lude t h e mullahs .H o l i n e s s ' , 'Our Worthy F a t h e r ' a p p r e h e n s i v e l y

f a c e . '

Tabar i i s dead r i g h t . . But what is b r e a t ht ak ing about he r a r t i c l e i s t h a t it adds not ani o t a to t h e a n a l y s i s l a i d out by t h e i n t e rn a t i o n a l S p a r t a c i s t tendency before Khomeini sr i se to power. Nowhere does she o f f e r t h es l i g h t e s t i n d i c a t i o n t h a t t h e r e was one t endency on t h e l e f t which d id t e l l t h e t r u t h , whichr e fu sed to t a i l t h e r e a c t i o n a r y mass movements i m p l y because it was popu l a r, and which o f f e r e da programme - - which Ta b a r i even now cannot -to l e ad t h e workers i n s t r u g g l e a g a i n s t b o t h t h etyranny of t h e shah and t h e c l e r i c a l r e a c t i o n o ft h e mullahs . Does Comrade Ta b a r i f o r g e t whicho rg a n i s a t i o n it was t h a t the IMG helped eXCludefrom a n t i - s h a h demonstra t ions two yea r s ago f o rsaying-, 'Down with t h e shah, down w i t h t h emullahs '?

A decade from now t h e HKE w i l l be rememberedas t h e ' l e f t i s t s ' who j u s t i f i e d t h e murderousI s l amic t h u g a t t a c k s on t h e Fedayeen. But t h ewhole USec i s compl i c i t i n t h e b e t r a y a l . Thef u t u r e c a d r e of a T r o t s k y i s t p a r t y i n I r a n w i l lhave to absorb t h e l e s sons ' tha t t h i s g r o t e s q u eparody o f Trotskyism cannot t e ach : t h a t Khomeiniand t h e mullahs did not ' b e t r a y ' t h e r e v o l u t i o nbut in tended from the beginning to b u i l d ac l e r i c a l d i c t a t o r s h i p , and t h a t genuine n a t i o n a ll i b e r a t i o n from i m p e r i a l i s m r e q u i r e s a s t r u g g l el e ad ing t he oppressed masses to t h e d i c t a t o r s h i pof t h e p r o l e t a r i a t .

--adapted from Workers Vanguard no 256 16 May 1980

no t in g a newspaper warning ' t h a t we can o n l y be I n d ~ e ~~ h i l er e cogn i s i ng t h a t ~ h e I s l ~ i C S N ID .e a l t with in t h e language o f t h e b u l l e t ' Republl.c l.S a t heoc racy, t h e y pOl.nt to a p ro - m sMojahed, A pr i l 1980) . g r e s s i v e ' f a c t i o n o f t h e c l e rgy - - supposedly

Yet so i n t e n t were t h e SWP/HKE On defending r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e i n t e r e s t s o f t h ~ p e t t y b ~ u r g - Continued from page 8). ' , , , e o i s i e - - which has been pushed l .nto a n t l . - . .

Khomel.ni 's ' ant l . - l .mper l .a l l . s t ' c r eden t l . a l s t h a t . , f ' ti t e c t l . v e c o l o u r a t i o n through b l a t a n t denl .a l o fI i m p e r i a l i s t ' a c t i o n . With th l . s J u s t i l .ca on ,they hel .nously blamed t h e Vl.ctl.ms of t h e b l o o d y . - p o l l . t i ~ a land socl .a l r e a l l . t y. For t h e IMG USI s l ami c a s s a u l t s on t h e campuses f o r t h e i r own ~ n t h e p ~ s tt h e y s u p p o r t ~ dt h e red mullah , i m p e r i a l i s m i s armed t o t h e t e e t h not f o r ad e a t h s , c l a i m i n g in t h e i r paper Kargar: Taleghanl . . J u s t be fo re hl.s dea th l a s t yea r, th l . s b a t t l e to t h e d e a t h w i t h t h e Sov ie t Union, but

'The r e s i s t a n c e o f t h e l e a d e r s o f t h e Fedayeen f a v o u r i t e a y a t o l l a h o f t h e l e f t c ~ ~ d e m n e dt h e to s u p p r e s s t h e ' c o l o n i a l revoi l iu t ion ' , i n p a r -and Muj ahedeen to t h e dmands of t h e masses o f r e b e l Kurdl:\, and s u p p o r t e d Khomeinl. s t e r r o r cam- t i c u l a r t h e ' r e v o l u t i o n s i n I r a n Cen t r a lt h e people opened up t h e way f o r t h e c a p i t a l - paign a g a i n s t them. This i s what a b loc w i t h t h e America and t h e Caribbean ' S o c i ~ l i s tChallenge

, 1 i t 'i s t s to touch o f f t h e c l a s h e s and. k i l l i n g . ' progress l .ve c e rg y means n p r a c l .ce . . . 22 May). Aside from t h e b i z a r r e agglomerat ion o f( r e p r i n t e d i n Intercontinental Press, 2 June) Neve r the l e s s t h e Fedayeen, u n l i k e t h e craven f e u d a l r e a c t i o n i n I r a n and pe t t y -bou rgeo i s

And in a c y n i c a l and d i s g u s t i n g a t t emp t to make HKE, a r e f i g h t e r s . We r e . t h e r e an a u t h e n t ~T ro t- S an din is ta -l ed ant i -Somoza mass upsurge inan amalgam o f l e f t i s t ' r e s i s t a n c e ' ( i e desi r-e f o r S k y ~ s tp a r t y i n I ~ a nit would no d O U b ~draw many Nicaragpa, what i s important about . t h i s views u r v i v a l ) and c a p i t a l i s t o p p o s i t i o n Kargar added: of l . t s cad re s f rom among Fedayeen m i l l . t a n t ~~ h ~ s h a r e d by a l l t h e f a k e - Tr o t s k y i s t s i s t h a t it

' B e s ide s t h e 500 [ c a p i t a l i s t and l a r g e l a n d - prove ab l e to t ranscend t h e l e f t - S t a l i n i s t ll .ml.- s k i r t s t h e i s s u e c e n t r a l t o t h e c u r r e n t warl o r d ] f a m i l i e s , t h e Mujahedeen and t h e F e d a - t a t i o n s o f t h e i r o rg a n i s a t i o n . h y s t e r i a : f o r o r a g a i n s t t h e S o v i e t Union?yeen opposed t h e o c c u p a t i o n o f t h e u n i v e r - The ' c o l o n i a l r e v o l u t i o n ' i s today t h e news i i e s ' and t h e t a k i n g o v e r o f t h e educat i ona l Blood on the uSec s hands haven from t h e c o n f l i c t between Sov ie t R u s s i a

. l s t ~ _ ~ o n ~ _t ( ) J I ' : l . . . t e m ~ tt h e s e r v i c e o f t h e , a n ~i m ~ e r i a l i s m : . . . . ~ 1 ~ l > s . ~ n ~ e _of _ I . l _ p o w ~ : r f u l .p e o p l e ' s s t r u g g l e s . From t h e time" of t : I i ' e oc - .

., and wel'l-armed Sov ie t degenerated workers s t a t e ,

c up a t i ons o f t h e spy den, t h e s e o rg a n i z a t i o n s l . s t p a r t y in I r a n , a p a r t y t h a t t e l l s t h e p l a i n t h e r e i s scarcely_ a genuine c o l o n i a l r e v o l u t i o n

have c o n t i n u a l l y moved f u r t h e r away from t h e t r u t h t h a t Khomeini ' s S h i ' i t e t h e o c r a c y i s every anywhere which would not have been crushed witha n t i - i m p e r i a l i s t t r e n c h e s . ' ( i b i d ) b i t as opp re s s iv e as t h e s h a h ' s d i c t a t o r s h i p . i m p u n i t y by t h e American i m p e r i a l i s t gendarme.The ISOs lauded by t h e HKE as 'vanguard a n t i - But t h e USec has h ideous ly d i s c r e d i t e d t h e name But t h e c e n t r i s t s s h u t t h e i r eyes to t h i s f a c t ,

i m p e r i a l i s t m i l i t a n t s ' were i n f a c t t h e f i r s t t o o f Trotskyism, with t h e HKE in p a r t i c u l a r chee r- and f o r t h e IMG t h e c h i e f i m p e r i a l i s t t a r g e t i smo bi l i s e around Khomeini ' s demand f o r t h e ' I s l a m - ing on t h e I s l amic f a n a t i c s ' murderous a s s a u l t Khomeini ' s I r a n . 'Muddlers and p a c i f i s t s ofi f i c a t i o n ' of t h e u n i v e r s i t i e s . The murderous on t h e l e f t . However t h e H K E ~ S W Pa r e n ' t t h e o n l y t h e world, a l l ye s u f f e r i n g from t h e p i n - p r i c k sHezbollahi m e r e l y c a r r i e d ou t t h i s demand in a USec b e t ~ a y e r s .A sta t emen t l.ssued by t h e USec of f a t e , r a l l y t o t h e " t h i r d " camp ' ( Tr o t s k y,' r e v o l u t i o n a r y ' f a sh ion . And it was Khomeini ' s l e a d e r s h ~ pon May 1, o n l y d a y ~a f t e r t h e l a t e s t In Defense o Marxism).governing 'R ev o lu t i ona ry C o u n c i l ' which adopted round o f bloody t e r r o r s t a t e s .t h i s s l o g a n and c lo sed t h e u n i v e r s i t i e s in o rde r ' S i n c e ' t h e over throw of t h e Shah, t h e r e hasto c o m p l e t e t h e ' I s l a m i f i c a t i o n ' . Yet t h i s i s been a deepening s o c i a l r e v o l u t i o n i n I r a n ,what t h e HKE c a l l e d a campaign to ' pu rge t h e cam- and workers , p e a s a n t s , oppressed n a t i o n a l -puses o f t he h e r i t a g e of monarchy and t r an s fo rm i t i e s have begun to make major g a i n s . ' (In-them i n t o a n t i - i m p e r i a l i s t f o r t r e s s e s ' . There was tercontinental Press, 26 May)a s i m i l a r p u rg e c a r r i e d ou t in t h e u n i v e r s i t i e s Te l l t h a t to t h e Kurds who l i v e d in Saqqez,o f Germany in t h e 1930s . Then it was c a l l e d t u r n e d i n t o a ghost town by Khomeini ' s P e r s i a n' A r y a n i s a t i o n ' . army; to t h e comrades o f t h e martyred Fedayeen

But it i s not s i m p l y t h e biood of t h e l e f t i s t m i l i t a n t s b u t c h e r e d on t h e u n i v e r s i t i e s .s t u d e n t s which is on t h e hands o f t h e s e yel low A f t e r f i f t e e n months of an eve r ' un fo ld ing' s o c i a l i s t ' f o l l o wer s of ' t h e l i n e of t h e Imam'. dynamic ' o f I s l amic t e r r o r in power, even someAn a r t i c l e i n t h e 5 May i s s u e o f Intercontinental elements o f t he USec have begun to r e c o i l from

Press d e s c r i b e s m a s s a c r e s in t h e h i l l s o f K u r d i - t h e i r former e n t h u s i a s t i c s u p p o r t f o r t h es t a n which r e c a l l Deir Yassin o r My La i . ' I r a n i a n r e v o l u t i o n ' . Thus USec suppo r t e r Azar

N o n e t h ~ l e s s ,t h e SWP/HKE r e f u s e t o r e cogn i s e Taba r i , w r i t i n g in ~ h e May 1980 Issues u n i -t h e r i g h t o f s e l f - d e t er m i n a t i o n f o r t h e Kurds formly condemns ' t h e l e f t ' f o r i t s f a i l u r e too r o t h e r m i n o r i t i e s in I r a n . I n s t ead they c a l l r e cogn i s e t h a t 'A r e a c t i o n a r y s t r u g g l e i s notf o r ' au tonomy' which t u r n s out to mean what- r e n d e r e d r e v o l u t i o n a r y s imply because i t s op -

d fe ve r t h e Kurdish a y a t o l l a h H o s s e i n i s a y s it ponents a r e themselves react l .onary , an ormeans . Thus t h e y w r i t e : main t a in ing ' i t s enthusiasm f o r t h e I r a n ~ a ~

, r e v o l u t i o n ' " i n t h e wake o f a l l the a t rocl . t l .es'Despl . te t h e b l . t t e r exper l .ences o f t h e l a r g e -1 f ', h t ' K d i t I t th commi t t e d a g a i n s t t h e l e f t , workers , women ands ca e l.g l.ng l.n u r s an as yea r, e .

Kurdish l e a d e r s have c o n s t a n t l y r e i t e r a t e d n a t i o n a l m i n o r i t i e s . 'By a l l o w : n g t h e , ~ n -t h e i r de t e rm ina t i on , and t h e de t e rmina t i on of c h a l l e n g e d impos i t i on of Is laml .c codes d a ~ d s

th ' 1 t d f d t h I ' 1 Taba r i , ' t h e l e f t e f f e c t i v e l y coope ra t e l.nel . r peop e , 0 e en e ranl .an r e v o - , , , ,u t i o n and the borders o I ran . (Intercon- prepar l .ng t h e condl . t l .ons f o r l . t s own s t r a n g u -t inen ta l Press, 12 May; emphasis added) l a t i o n . ' She concludes t h a t :

' I r a n i a n s may have to pay a heavy p r i c e f o rSuddenly t h e b o rd e r s o f I r a n , carved ou t from t b d d ' f th- - t h i s P e r h a p s t h e cos can e re u c e l. ethe de f ea t ed Ottoman Empire a f t e r World War I i n t e ; n a t i o n a l l e f t he lp s to draw t h e ap -by t h e French and B r i t i s h i m p e r i a l i s t v i c t o r s , , t l d to dl.sseml.'nate, proprl .a e conc USl.ons anmust be defended - - agal .ns t I r a q . The HKE has t h ' d o l ' b l e To do so t h eem as Wl. e y as P O S S l . . ,suddenly d i s c ov e red t h a t I r aq i s a ' p u p p e t ' o f l e f t must f i r s t remove i t s b l i n k e r s and look

US im pe r i a l i sm . Of cou r se , t h e I r a q i c o l o n e l s r e a l i t s u a r e l i n i t s r a t h e r un love la r e no more f r i e n d s o f t h e Kurds t h a n t h e I r a n - y q y yi a n m u l l a h s , and f o r t e n yea r s waged a savagem i l i t a r y campaign a g a i n s t them in t h e name o ft h e 'Arab Re v o l u t i on ' j u s t as Khomeini does today in t h e name o f h i s ' I s l a m i c R e v o l u t i o n ' .Working p e o p l e in b o t h I r a n and I r a q have no

i n t e r e s t in becoming cannon f o d d e r i n a b o r d e r

JUNE 1980

CONTACT THE SPARTACIST LEAGUE

Telephone:Birmingham 021) 4727726London , 01) 278 2232

Workers revolution: the road to peace

Ducking defence o f the Sov i e t Union has ine l u c t a b l e consequences . The IMG's c a p i t u l a t i o nto ' L i t t l e England ' p a c i f i s t i s o l a t i o n i s m i sunderscored by i t s argument a g a i n s t t h e Cru i s em i s s i l e : ' . . . even i f Cru i s e was c o n s i d e r e dn e c e s s a r y [ f o r w h a t ? ] t h e r e i s no m i l i t a r yr e a s o n f o r t h e r e t o be bases in B r i t a i n , f o rCru i s e can be f i r e d from sh ip s o r a i r c r a f t ' . . .Through Cru i s e , B r i t a i n w i l l be t i e d to t h e USwar machine and w i l l be a pr ime t a r g e t f o r any

Sov ie t r e t a l i a t o r y a t t a c k ' (Socialist Challenge,22 May). The touching concern expressed by t h e s esupposed r e v o l u t i o n a r i e s f o r s a f egua rd ing HerMajes ty ' s r e a l m from t h e vengeance o f t h e Sov ie tworkers s t a t e should p rov ide food f o r thoughtf o r thos'e IMGers who thought they were in aTr o t s k y i s t o rg a n i s a t i o n and not an o ld l a d i e s 'p a c i f i s t s o c i e t y P r o t e s t and su rv ive? T h i s s o r tof argument might w e l l mobi l i s e 100,000 to p r ot e s t in t h e s t r e e t s - - to demand they su rv ive a' S o v i e t r e t a l i a t o r y a t t a c k ' by any meansnecessary .

The i n e v i t a b l e c o n f i c t s between t h e r i v a li m p e r i a l i s t powers compet ing to p l u n d e r t h eworld f o r p r o f i t , and t h e r e v a n c h i s t i m p e r i a l i s ta p p e t i t e to r e s t o r e p r i v a t e p rope r ty i n t h e deformed workers s t a t e s c o n s t i t u t e t h e impetustowards nuc l ea r world war. 'Disarmament ' i s adangerous hoax; t h e worldwide v i c t o r y o f t h e - 'p r o l e t a r i a t i s t h e o n l y road to peace. And t h a tr e q u i r e s t h e r e b i r t h of a genuinely T r o t s k y i s tFourth I n t e r n a t i o n a l , commit ted to t h e defenceand ex t ens ion o f t he ~ o r l d - h i s t o r i cga in s ofOctober through s o c i a l i s t r e v o l u t i o n a g a i n s tt h e bou rgeo i s i e and p o l i t i c a l r e v o l u t i o n too u s t t h e S t a l i n i s t bu reauc rac i e s . We i n s c r i b e onour banner what Lenin d id in 1916: 'Our s l o g a nmust be: arming o f t h e p r o l e t a r i a t to d e f e a t ,e x p r o p r i a t e and disarm t h e b o u r g e o i s i e . ' .

7


8/8

BRITAIN

Onlyworkers revolution can disarm the imperialists

eAs t h e demented p e a n u t

f a r m e r in t h e White Housed r i v e s t h e world towardsn u c l e a r Armageddon, s o c i a ldemocrats o f a l l s t r i p e sh a v e p r e d i c t a b l y r e s u r r e c t e dt h e n a t i o n a l i s t / p a c i f i s tc l a p t r a p o f d i s a r m a m e n t . Butp a c i f i s t daydreams c a n n o twish away t h e r e a l i t y o f t h ec l a s s war. The e n t h u s i a s mw i t h which ' d e m o c r a t i c ' imp e r i a l i s m and i t s ' s o c i a li s t helpmates have embraceda band of a n t i - S o v i e t c l e r ic a l r e a c t i o n a r i e s f i g h t i n gto make A f g h a n i s t a n s a f e f o ri l l i t e r a c y and t h e e n s l a v ement o f women u n d e r s c o r e s as i m p l e axiom o f Marxism. Int h e c o n f l i c t between t h e

I

b o u r g e o i s i e and "the , p r o l et a r i a t t h e r e is no ' t h i r dc a m p ' , and t h e r e n e v e r h a sb e e n . Those who today r ef u s e to unambiguous ly defend t h e g a i n s o f t h e O c t ob e r R e v o l u t i o n a g a i n s t whicht h e i m p e r i a l i s t war d r i v e i sd i r e c t e d must i n e v i t a b l y endup g i v i n g a i d and c o m f o r t tot h a t war d r i v e . T r o t s k y i s t s

British tanks on West German N TO manoeuvres targetted at the Soviet Union

s a y : Hail Red AI TmJ ?:n Afghanirtan Defend thesoviet Union For UJoI'keI's I'eVO luh:on to endimper ia l i s t UJaI'

Margare t T h a t c h e r and t h e B r i t i s h r u l i n gc l a s s have gone down, t h e l i n e w i t h Jimmy _C a r t e r ' s a n t i - S o v i e t o f f e n s i v e . And t h eLabour P a r t y , l e f t s ~and a l l , have beent r a i l i n g r i g h t behind . -The June 22 march andr a l l y c a l l e d b y t h e Labour Par.ty a t t h e be -h e s t o f t h e l e f t N a t i o n a l E x e c u t i v e Committ e e i n o p p o s i t i o n to NATO p l a n s t o s i t e 160C r u i s e m i s s i l e s in B r i t a i n comes f i v e monthsa f t e r t h e NEC v o t e d u n a n i m o u s l y to condemnt h e S o v i e t i n t e r v e n t i o n , i n A f g h a n i s t a n . Ande v e r y S i n g l e o s t e n s i b l y T r o t s k y i s t o r g a n i s a t i o n

w i t h t h e e x c e p t i o n o f t h e S p a r t a c i s t League (SL)jumped on t h e i m p e r i a l i s t bandwagon t o echot h e c o n d e m n a t i o n . Having h e l p e d p u l l t h e t r i gg e r f o r C a r t e r ' s b l a s t o f war t h r e a t s , a fewo f t h e T r i b u n i t e ' l e f t s ' a r e now w o r r i e d t h a tt h e t h r e a t s may become r e a l i t y - - e s p e c i a l l ya f t e r C a r t e r ' s c r a z y h e l i c o p t e r f i a s c o i nI r a n . Wi t h o u t v a c a t i n g C a r t e r / T h a t c h e r ' scamp, t h e y a r e s e e k i n g t o channel s e n t i m e n ta g a i n s t i m p e r i a l i s t war i n t o ' L i t t l e E n g l a n d 'i s o l a t i o n i s m and p a c i f i s m .

From h i s t o r i a n E P Thompson 's a p p e a l to' p r o t e s t and s u r v i v e ' by r e v i v i n g t h e p e a c en i k CND a l l t h e way to t h e ' T r o t s k y i s t 'I n t e r n a t i o n a l M a r x i s t Group B m ) and i t s c a l lf o r 'a movement based on a n t i - i m p e r i a l i s to p p o s i t i o n t o m i l i t a r i s m ' (Soc ia l i s t Challenge,8 May), t h e y a l l s h a r e t h e common g r o u n d o f t h em y t h i c a l t h i r d camp, h o p i n g to keep t h i ss c e p t r e d i s l e o u t o f t h e n u c l e a r c r o s s f i r e . Wer e c a l l L e n i n ' s o b s e r v a t i o n : . . . h e p e t t y -

b o u rg e o i s d e s i r e t o keep as f a r away a s p o ss i b l e from t h e g r e a t b a t t l e s o f w o r l d \ h i s to r y. . . i s , o f c o u r s e , r e a c t i o n a r y and i s ba'sede n t i r e l y on i l l u s i o n s , f o r , in one way o ra n o t h e r , i m p e r i a l i s m draws t h e s m a l l s t a t e si n t o t h e v o r t e x o f w o r l d economy and w o r l dp o l i t i c s . ' And B r i t a i n i s h a r d l y a ' s m a l ls t a t e ' , much a s i t - m a y seem t h a t way.

In a l l t h e h a n d - w r i n g i n g o v e r C r u i s e andNATO, t h e y a l l r e f u s e t o r e c o g n i s e where -and why - - C r u i s e and NATO a r e t a r g e t t e d . I t sno s e c r e t . The 19 A p r i l Economist, l e c t u r i n gC a r t e r ' s l a g g i n g European a l l i e s , s q u a r e l yp o s e d t h e o b j e c t o f t h e war f r e n z y : 'The c o nt a i n m e n t of dangerous b i g R u s s i a is t h e i t e m

t h a t s h o u l d be a t t h e top o f t h e w e s t e r na g e n d a . ' Indeed t h e ' c o n t a i n m e n t ' o f R u s s i ahas been a t t h e top o f t h e ~ m p e r i l i s tagendaf o r more t h ~ n s i x d e c a d e s , e v e r s i n c e t h e B o ls h e v i k s swept Kerensky i n t o t h e d u s t b i n o fh i s t o r y and l i b e r a t e d o n e - s i x t h o f t h e e a r t h ' , sl a n d s u r f a c e f rom i l J l p e r i a l i s t e x p l o i t a t i o n andc a p i t a l i s t wage s l a v e r y . Through p e r i o d s o fcOl'd war and h o t war, in t h e T h i r d P.eich andt h e American C e n t u r y, t h e i m p e r i a l i s t b o u rg e o i s i e s have m a i n t a i n e d t h e i r d e t e r m i n a t i o nto r e c o n q u e r t h e S o v i e t Union f o r c a p i t a l i s m .They f a i l e d in t h e wars o f i n t e r v e n t i o n , andH i t l e r n e v e r made it to Moscow - - a t a c o s t o fm i l l i o n s o f Russian workers . Today C a r t e r isg e t t i n g r e a d y to t r y a g a i n , h a v i n g paved t h eway w i t h a t h r e e - y e a r - l o n g 'human r i g h t s 'campaign d e s i g n e d to m i l i t a r i l y and ' m o r a l l y 'rearm America in t h e f i g h t a g a i n s t 'Communista g g r e s s i o n ' .

And t h e c o u n t e r r e v o l u t i o n a r y b u r e a u c r a c y in

,nion

t h e Kremlin h a s done i t s b i tto h e l p C a r t e r o u t . "Followi n g i t

spartacist no.22 june 1980

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