The arrest of Sean Mac Stiofain, like the previous arrest of Maire Drum, (the Provisional leader from Belfast), reveals the brittle facade of "democracy" in the 26 County state. Mac Stiofain has been charged with membership of an illegal organisation, but the legislation under which he will be tried has not yet been passed by the Dail. This legislation will shift the onus of proof from the prosecution to the defence, in trials (before special tribunals) of people charged under this section of the Offences Against The State Act. In other words Mac Stiofain will have to prove that he is not a member of the IRA to secure acquittal. At one stroke two fundamental principles of bourgeois law are overthrown no retrospective legislation; and innocence until proved guilty, with the onus of such proof on the prosecution.
The probability that Mac Stiofain will receive a two year sentence should not be seen as the main problem which is revealed by his arrest. Despite his enormous military ability, his arrest alone will not break the campaign in the North. The real problem is the continued weakness of the struggle in the South. The purpose of Whitelaw's ramblings on the "Trish Dimension" in his Green Paper, is now revealed. Unable to defeat the struggle in the Six Counties, British Imperialism is now going over to an all-Ireland offensive. And in return for the meaningless promises of the Green Paper, Fianna Fail is acting as its main agent. Never before has the crucial importance of an all-Ireland struggle by Irish republicans and socialists been shown so starkly.
CONTRADICTION But the slowness with which Fianna Fail has responded to the requirements of British Imperialism reveals an important contradiction. They are the agency through which British imperialism must mediate its offensive; but they are a weak agency. While they have ridden out the storms of the last four years, and have even strengthened their position, they have, for historical reasons, been reluctant up to now to come out so openly on the side of British imperialism.
A quick and fierce response to the Mac Stiofain arrest could have salutary effects. This is not just a question of the 26 Counties, but of action internationally, and especially in Britain. A major task of the solidarity movement must be to harry the Free State Government, through pickets, demonstrations, and other actions against Irish Tourist Offices, Aer Lingas offices, and other arms of the 26 Counties. This is not just the responsibility of Irish exiles; since British imperialism is behind them, a blow at Jack Lynch is a blow at Whitelaw. That blow must be struck now, with the maximum weight and speed that can be mustered. be able to carry on effective solidarity work. Why have the Vietnamese had to negotiate with the Americans? What problems will the National Liberation Front face if agreement is reached in Paris? And what stand should those in Britain who support the struggle for self-determination in Indo-China take? MOSCOW AND PEKING The plain fact is that the single most important reason why the Vietnamese have been forced to negotiate with US imperialism is the treachery of the two main workers' states, Russia and China. The facts which demonstrate this bitter truth have been published many times in the Red Mole. And every week brings fresh evidence to light. On November 19, the New York Times published the figures of Soviet military aid to other countries. There is one people which above all others needs every gun, bomb and rocket it can lay its hands on and that is the Vietnamese. And yet the Soviet leadership supplies more military aid to Egypt, more to Iraq and more to India-three reactionary bourgeois states which are daily suppressing working class militants in their own countries-than it sends to Vietnam. Last year alone, military aid to Sadat's Egypt was 350.000,000 dollars, while the Vietnamese received a mere 100.000,000 dollars. As for machines, have to be maintained and Demonstration in June was promising start in rebuilding solidarity movement (Photo: Mike Cohen) the Chinese Prime Minister, Chou-en Lai, he welcomed Nixon's re-election "because he played a role in improving relations between the United States and China"
AFTER AN AGREEMENT The problems which would confront the National Liberation Front after the signing of a Treaty have been spelt out most clearly by the Vietnamese themselves. The September 1972 issue of Vietnam Courier contains an editorial which should be studied by every socialist. It states: "Mr. Nixon wants to keep in hand that puppet army and police which will enable him to impose his will on the Vietnamese people. If he can just get a few months respite, in order to get himself re-elected and prop up that apparatus so badly shaken by the offensive of the patriotic forces, Mr Nixon will be in a favourable position to invoke all kinds of pretexts and do what his predecessors had done, that is, to send in US military power each time that apparatus is threatened. "Nixon's proposals will not therefore lead to peace, but to an indefinite prolongation of the conflict. US armed aggression against Viet Nam has definite political aims: to impose US neo-colonialist domination on the country. So long as there is no political settlement, so long as Washington does not give up its will to force on the Vietnamese people a government at the Americans' beck and call, there will be no genuine peace."
WHAT KIND OF SUPPORT? The criminal failure of the Russian and Chinese leaders to give all out support to the Indochinese revolution has forced the Vietnamese to make the concession of negotiating with the Americans. But under no conditions should we, in Britain, support the right of imperialism to wring these concessions from the Vietnamese. We should learn from history. When the infant Soviet Republic was forced to compromise with German imperialism in 1918 and sign the Brest Litovsk Treaty because of its isolation, revolutionaries like Rosa Luxemburg were in the forefront of those jected the right of their own bourgeoisie to extract concessions from the Russian workers. It was the German Social-Democrats, many of whom mouthed support for the Russian workers' state just as the Russians and Chinese now mouth support for the Vietnamese, who voted for Brest Litovsk. The Bolsheviks were scathing in their reply: "You swine. We are objectively compelled to negotiate in order not to be annihilated, but as for you-you are politically free to vote for or against, and your vote implies whether or not you place confidence in your own bourgeoisie." Our job is not to whip up support for the negotiations, but to attack the US's right to negotiate over the future of Indo-China. Secondly we must redouble our efforts for the complete victory of the Indo-Chinese people. Specifically we must mobilise for the INDO-CHINA SOLIDARITY CONFERENCE on December 2nd/3rd in London, and turn that conference into a spring-board for developing the solidarity work. SOLIDARITY TILL FINAL VICTORY! ALL POWER TO THE PROVISIONAL REVOLUTIONARY GOVERNMENT!
FOR THE IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL OF ALL IMPERIALIST TROOPS FROM S.E. ASIA!
FOR A UNITED AND SOCIALIST VIETNAM!
December 2nd and 3rd, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London W. C. 1.
INDO-CHINA SOLIDARITY SPEAKERS: Representatives of the Vietnamese, Noam Chomsky, Malcolm Caldwell.
Workshops, discussions, debate on how to carry forward solidarity work.
Tickets, agenda, information from:
Indo-China Solidarity Conference, 6, Endsleigh Street, W.C. 1.
If you can help with publicity (leaflets, posters, etc.) please contact the above address.
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The Mac Stiofain Arrest: A New British Offensive