THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING: IRISH REPUBLICAN SOCIALIST COMMITTEES OF NORTH AMERICA CALL ON ANTI-IMPERIALISTS TO RESIST "BUSH'S WAR"



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Irish Republican Socialist Party
8 November 2001

THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING: IRISH REPUBLICAN SOCIALIST
COMMITTEES OF NORTH AMERICA CALL ON ANTI-IMPERIALISTS TO
RESIST "BUSH'S WAR"

Listening to US President George W. Bush tonight, the
reality of what we are confronting could not have been
plainer, though many Americans, including many in the Irish
activist community of the US, have yet to grasp the
truth--the current US and British military campaign against
the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's organisation in
Afghanistan is only the first round in a campaign that will
seek to liquidate all armed opposition to the imperialist
world order.

With the fall of the Soviet Union and its allied states, the
US was left as the sole superpower in the world. Immediately
thereafter, George Bush Senior seized upon the opportunity
to send a message to those nations still presenting an
independent, anti-imperialist posture within the world, by
launching its war on Iraq, which continues unabated to the
present day.

Having succeeded in largely neutralising the greatest threat
to its Zionist ally in the Middle East and finding a means
to establish US military bases on the Arabian peninsula, as
well as leaving PKK positions within Iraq open to attack by
its Turkish allies, the war with Iraq also sent a message
designed to hold other countries, such as North Korea,
Libya, and Cuba in check.

Now, George W. Bush has launched the next offensive against
the imperialists' remaining enemies, the various armed
guerilla movements and terrorist organisations around the
globe. Having been provided with justification to go after
two targets unlikely to draw tremendous sympathy within the
broader anti-imperialist community-- the reactionary Islamic
fundamentalists now under attack in Afghanistan--the
American President is moving swiftly to expand this action
to neutralise others prepared to challenge imperialism.

If is notable, for example, that when the British and US
authorities moved to freeze the assets of over 30 of the
world's "terrorist organisations", the list included the
Real Irish Republican Army, the Basque ETA, the
Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, the International
Sikh Youth Federation, Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK),
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Mujahedin-e Khalq
Organisation, National Liberation Army, Palestinian
Liberation Front, PFLP General Command, Revolutionary
Nuclei, Revolutionary Organisation 17 November,
Revolutionary People's Liberation Army/Front, Shining Path
and most notably the Popular Front for the Liberation of
Palestine.  None of these organisations are fundamentalist
Islamicists. In fact, the PFLP are notable as secularists
within the Arab world as are several other of the
Palestinian groups named. None are likely to have any ties
whatsoever to bin Laden's organisation, yet they have been
singled out for inclusion in the first wave of a campaign to
cut off funding to all armed enemies of imperialism.

The Royal Ulster Constabulary accusing the Irish National
Liberation Army of a murder, using a weapon known to be in
the hands of the Continuity IRA and after the INLA has been
on cease-fire for over three years, may well be an attempt
to extend this net even further, to impede financial support
to the Irish Republican Socialist Movement as well.

If the present US/British military campaign is allowed to go
forward unchecked and the associated assault on civil
liberties continues to meet with no serious opposition, the
imperialists will have succeeded in making it difficult for
anyone to challenge their monopoly over the use of armed
force around the globe.

All anti-imperialists must recognise the serious threat
being aimed at the heart of the organisations throughout the
world prepared to direct armed resistance against the
imperialist nations and their assets. Beyond that, we must
collectively struggle to thwart the imperialists' attempts
to remove the last enemy capable of inflicting armed attack
against them, or those engaged in non-military resistance
today, will find themselves subjected to similar tactics
down the road.

The Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America
calls upon all anti-imperialists to recognise the campaign
now having been launched and take all actions within their
power to combat it, before it becomes too late.

ENDS

###

Peter Urban
North American Coordinator, IRSCNA
Internationnal Department Secretariat, IRSP
irsp@netwiz.net
http://www.irsm.org/irsm.html