pares for War Unit, Special Patrol Group, who issued revolvers Conley (far right) who shot and killed Basharat Out)
picketing leads to repression". The need for militant picketing stems from the repressive drive of the capitalist class in the face of any strike: the terror tactics of managements trying to intimidate workers against striking; the bribes to lorry drivers combined with threats of losing their jobs unless they smash through picket lines; the witch-hunt campaigns in the gutter press inciting 'the public" to violence against the strikers. It is in response to these things and the exclusion of the workers from casy access to mass media and meeting places, that militant picketing is necessary. And of course, that leads to the possibility of the police anti-strike squads being sent in against the workers, and of the army being used to break up the strike movement.
CENTRALISATION There is one final great advantage which the government possesses in its pursuit of repression: the fact that the police, the Special Branch and the other agencies of repression arehighly centralised and highly mobile, while at the same time their organisational problems are concealed from public scrutiny. It is possible for the police to concentrate very large forces against one picket line, without any advance warning of where they are going to strike, and this enables them to appear a thousand times stronger than they actually are.
In this way, the police can bluff workers into submission by giving the impression that enormously greater force could be used than is actually possible. Kitson again spells out this lesson. Speaking of Northern Ireland he writes: "every effort should be made to retain the respect and awe of the civilian community for the ultimate in terms of force which they may use. If an impression can be built up that although the troops have used little force so far, they might at any moment use a great deal more, the people will be wary and relatively fewer men will be needed. Admittedly an element of bluff is involved and one of the most first issue of Red Star is May Day. difficult tasks is to get the maximum value of it without having the bluff called." This was exactly the tactic which the police tried during. last year's miners' strike, by staging a show of strength in front of the pickets, hoping that their bluff would not be called by the workers. But at Saltley in Birmingham when the police tried this tactic outside the coal depot, workers from many different factories all over Birmingham struck and joined the picket lines, thus calling the police bluff and forcing the closure of the depot.
THE POLITICAL SITUATION The Government is at present walking a tightrope. The economic needs of British capitalism demand a quick and crushing victory over the working class, but at present the labour movement is too strong for the government to risk a full scale confrontation. The Government is trying to overcome these conflicting needs through its wage control laws. Under the cover of these laws it hopes to be able to force defeats on the working class, wearing down workers' resistance by beating down one individual section after another.
The big question worrying Heath is whether a section of workers like the miners with really strong economic power will face him with the terrible choice of capitulating to the miners' claim or trying to use repression against the miners such as would provoke a general strike. To avoid this situation the government is trying to influence the miners by baring its teeth against economically weaker sections of the class like the hospital workers. Then if the miners do not come out the police and court actions against the hospital pickets will be repeated and stepped up in an effort to browbeat the working class into submission.
THE RESPONSE The experiences of Saltley and the freeing of the five provide two essential lessons for combatting state violence. An attack on one picket line must be seen for what it is: part and parcel of the whole offensive against working people, and the whole working class in the area should be mobilised to down tools and man the picket. Any imprisonment of workers in struggle must be fought to a finish through the kind of strike movement seen at the time of the freeing of the five.
A campaign should be launched within the unions to make these basic matters of principle for trade union action. At the same time, the labour movement must demand the disbanding of the special' patrol groups and no interference of any kind by the police against pickets.
But these demands must be backed up with solid organisation in defence of workers in struggle. For the State has no sacred right to a monopoly of the use of force. If the police try to repeat the bullyboy tactics used against the Fine Tubes picketers in Plymouth and at the St. Thomas's Hospital site, then trade unionists must demand that their unions provide them with the necessary means for resistance and self-defence. If the police attack with truncheons, then why should workers not be similarly armed to defeat such police attacks. The police are the mailed fist of the capitalist class; the pickets must become the impregnable shield for the workers in their struggle. Without this defensive force it will be extremely difficult to hold the line at any point for enough time to prepare a working class counter-attack.
All over the country at different points the fight is being waged on the picket lines. Massive solidarity must not be left to ad hoc initiatives and spontaneous movements. The demand should be raised for trades councils to create action committees to co-ordinate the defence of picket lines. Since the need can arise for such action in a matter of hours it is essential that such committees should comprise delegates from all the factories and work places - not just branch officials. The demand should be raised immediately for the setting up of such bodies, and if the trades councils or main unions in the area will not take the initiative then rank and file militants must take it themselves. The organisation behind the police flying squads requires organisation behind the workers' flying squads On 27 January, 1973, the United States was finally forced to sign the Paris peace agreements. The two major stipulations of that agreement were that the Americans were to withdraw all their troops within 60 days, and that they were to respect the national sovereignty of the Vietnamese people.
Within the last two weeks, Nixon has exposed to the whole world his contempt for these stipulations. On 15 March, alleging North Vietnamese violations, he made a statement generally interpreted as a threat to recommence the bombing: "I would only suggest that in the light of my actions over the last four years, North Vietnam should not lightly disregard such expressions of concern from here." On 25 March, three days before the scheduled date, he announced that he would refuse to withdraw the remaining troops until the Amerícan prisoners in Laos were released as wella clear violation of article 5 of the peace treaty on the basis of a demand never conceded by the Vietnamese.
In addition the Americans have refused to dismantle their bases (violation of article 6) and have disguised their military councillors as "civilians" (violation of article 5). They have from North Vietnamese ports (violation of article 2) and have pursued their bombardment of Laos and Cambodia (violation of article 20 and article 2 of the Laos agreements). SAIGON As for Saigon, Thieu has flagrantly violated articles 8 and 11 guaranteeing democratic liberties (freedom of the press, freedom of movement); carried out thousands of violations of the military ceasefire (articles 2 and 3); and has refused to honour the agreements concerning the functioning of the control commission and the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam (PRG) and North Vietnamese delegations (chapter 6). Four military representatives of the PRG were killed by Saigon troops shortly before the International Conference in February!
Most menacing of all, Thieu has refused to enter into discussions with the PRG about the release of the estimated 300,000 civilians illegally detained and tortured in South Vietnamese jails (violation of chapter 3, article 8). Political prisoners are being reclassified as civilian prisoners, and all are being publicly threatened with extermination; hundreds, perhaps thousands, have disappeared and possibly been killed since the agreement was signed. As in the cases of the military violations, the finger of the United States is the one on the trigger, for the finances, "advisors", and even the "tiger cages" for the prisons are all provided by the Americans.
In addition to the violations of the peace treaty one must add: the maintenance of over 10,000 "civilian" personnel in South Vietnam, responsible for maintenance of the computers, planes, communications of the South Vietnamese army; the massive amounts of military aid which continue to pour into South Vietnam (over 400 planes, worth billions of dollars, since October); maintenance of 54,000 troops in Thailand, 60,000 in the 7th Fleet, a total of 177,000 in the area, etc., etc. Only one conclusion can be drawn from these facts: NIXON AND THIEU HAVE NO INTENTION OF ABIDING BY THE PEACE TREATY; NIXON CONTINUES TO SUPPORT THIEU TO MAINTAIN THE HOLD OF AMERICAN IMPERIALISM IN INDOCHINA.
THE CITIES icans and the repressive machinery of their Vietnamese lackeys, the liberation forces have their army and the support of the immense maAbove: armed supporters of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South Vietnam jority of the people of Indochin. In Laos, the peace treaty is more favourable to the Pathet Lao than was the treaty in South Vietnam for the NLF; in Cambodia, the fall of the capital city Pnom Penh is only a matter of time. In South Vietnam, the next stage will be the return to political action of the urban masses, now representing over half the total population. But in order to understand the difficulties faced by the revolutionaries in this area, one must take account of the massive social transformation caused by the Americans. These are described by Nguyen Khac Vien, editor of Vietnamese Studies, in an interview with Jeune Afrique, dated 10 February. "Since his coming to power in 1969, Nixon's not fulfilled their agreement to withdraw mines policies have been those of scorched earth and an excessive bombardment of rural regions. As a result, the entire rural population was obliged to flee to the towns. Millions of peasants no longer have any work, any jobs. Eligible men must enlist in the army or the police; the women are obliged to become prostitutes. There are now millions of people dependent on American aid, and that is one of the greatest difficulties. The soldiers don't want to fight but they don't have any other way to survive because the Americans have destroyed everything. The army, the functionaries, the police in Saigon and their families comprise 5 or 6 million people out of 17 million inhabitants. "Along with the peace, I think there will be a thaw. People who haven't dared to talk, who haven't dared to protest, first of all in the general public, later in the army and even in the police, will begin to move .... We think therefore that there will be an important political struggle against the Thieu regime. Within the Thieu government, the most reactionary and pro-American elements will try to launch a bloody repression - that's for certain. But once again there are the revolutionary armed forces on the scene. That will make them stop and think." (Our emphasis. The situation of dual power could not be more clearly stated. SOLIDARITY Now more than ever, it is necessary for the solidarity movement to fight against any relaxation of activity in defence of the Indochinese Revolution. The international mass mobilisation agaihst the American bombings in December "72 exposed the errors of fhose who believe that demonstrations have no effect. At the same time, the actions of dockers and other sections of workers in Australia, Italy, and Denmark show the possibilities of solidarity which doesn't confine itself to "peace" and "parliamentary roads".
In Britain, both the Indochina Solidarity Campaign (ISC) and the British Campaign for Peace in Vietnam (BCPV) support the demand of North Vietnam and the PRG: for the release of prisoners in South Vietnam; for the defense of democratic liberties guaranteed in the peace treaty; for the British Government to recognise the PRG and North Vietnam. The IMG supports the call of the ISC for joint actions on these demands by all individuals and organisations, in particular the BCPV and the CP. The To combat the immense resources of the Amer- decision of the Communist Party Student Commission to support the national demonstration on Saturday, May 5, called by the ISC is a positive step towards united activity.
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he Red Mole 62, we are soon to go en be changing our name to Red Star.