The British Government and the Army are, of course, very secretive about the SAS.
Manual, however, does not mince words. Its volume on 'Counter-Revolutionary Operations' (classified "Restricted' by the Ministry of Defence) outlines the functions of this secret squad.
'Hearts and minds' Apparently it is noted for 'assassination parties' and limited community relations". Its duties include: 'Liaison with, and organisation, training and control of, friendly guerrilla forces operating against the common enemy? In other words, playing off 'friendly' paramilitary groups against "hostile' ones - and promoting sectarian assassinations.
So it is nothing new that SAS troops are being sent to Northern Ireland. campaign as a 'war of hearts and minds" in which the aim is to win the population from support for the 'insurgents" - and this is exactly what the SAS specialises in.
But there is another reason why the SAS is involved in Northern Ireland. They are gaining experience in the only counter-insurgency war in Western Europe. SAS men who returned to Britain from Ireland in 1974 ran training programmes for other regiments based on the knowledge they had gained there. at Whitehall for anti-revolutionary operations in Britain give a leading role to the SAS. They have also been involved in some of the airport manoeuvres, working side by side with the Special Patrol Group and the Special Branch.
In the event of an emergency, SAS men will be called out from their training depot at Bradbury Lines Camp in Hereford. The experience of Northern Ireland is preparing them for their role against revolutionary developments in the working class in Britain. We thus have a double reason for stepping up our efforts to bring the troops out of Northern Ireland without delay. our Government not only withdraws the troops but also disbands the SAS, so putting a stop for ever to the brutal tactics of this secret killer squad.
Karen Margolis The Army Land Operations The British Army has long regarded this And recent contingency plans formulated And we must demand that the LabWith this article we are beginning a three-part series on the Irish revolution broadest unity in action for the 1 February demonstration. On the contSince the Labour Government poured thousands of troops into Ireland in 1969 the truc origins and nature of the Irish struggle have been lost in a constant barrage of lies, distortions and anti-Irish prejudice. To the British population at large, and even to many socialist minded workers. the irish struggic is orch sech as it elevant to their everyday problems and even in some cases as an obstacie to building a socialist Britain.
Yet throughout history the Irish struggle has involved major political questions of vital concern to the international labour movement and the British working class in particular.
The deepening rift between Loyalism and the national community of Northern Ireland is not caused by a religious conflict in which the British Army is a neutral or rational force. The gathering confrontation is a product of the same imperialist oppression wnien nas Hogo the emergence of movements all over the world.
But in Ireland the struggle for national freedom has taken a different form because of the pecuniar way in which Britain finally subjected Ireland to its militarv might, cconomic domin ation and also colonisation. However, the immense nressure of popular struggle which led to the 1916 rebellion and the War of Independence in 1919-21 forced the British imperialists to modify the form of their domination.
This occurred in 1921 in a deal with the native Irish capitalists which eventually gave formal independence to the 26 Counties, while carving out an exclusively British enclave in the north Six Counties. The British hold on this was guaranteed by the existence of the Protestant caste system, which systematically denied democracy and equality to the Catholic minority in all spheres of life.
And the Six County statelet in fact acted as a bridgehead for British domination of Irland as a whole. Spearhead The struggle which re-opened with the rise of the civil rights movement in the late 1960s was a product of this changeover to a different form of national oppression of the Irish pcople as a whole. The Catholic minority in the North, who had been handed over to the mercy of Unionist terror and oppression, became the new spearhead of the age-old struggle for national freedom.
At almost every level in defence of The South Armagh Republican Action Force has admitted that it shot the ten Protestants killed on Monday 5 January near Whitecross. But irrespective of who actually pulled the triggers, responsibility for these deaths and all the assassinations, violence and torture that have taken place in the last seven years of Occupa tion rests firmly on the shoulders of British imperialism.
The tears shed by politicians, church alism men and journalists cannot mask the hypocrisy of their appeals for 'peace" and "justice'. These same people have either supported or condoned the hundreds of mecar murders commited ov the britisn security forces, the torture of Republicans, the imprisonment of thousands for their political beliets, and the generst policy of repression and harassment pursued acainst une nationaiist minority in the North of Ireland. democratie rights and civil liberties, in mass resistance to the armed might of imperialist rule, through its general intolcrance of all oppression and desire to create a more just social system - the Irish freedom movement has been one of the sharpest points of the struggle against imperialist decay and oppression in Europe. The outcome of this struggle could in many respects determine th fate of the struggle for a socialist Britain - in one direction or another Class issue The national oppression of the Irish is not merelv an iniustice which should be opposed by all concerned with democratic rights and national and cultural freedom - it is also a class issue. While the native Irish capitalists feed on the crumbs of British and other foreign economic control, it is the workers and small farmers who are forced to underwrite the costs of imperialist oppression. Through chronic unemployment, a soarine rate of inflation, mass emigration to Britain and ghetto housing conditions the national oppression of Ireland reinforces the exploitation of Irish workers as a class.
From all angles the British labour movement has no interest in suppressing the Irish freedom struggle. In fact, every shot fired against a Catholic in South Armagh is a shot too against British labour. Similarly, every piece of repress ive legislation enacted in Ireland is a blow to the hard won democratic rights which the working class of this country have fought for and gained through a The aftermath of the Birmingham bombings in November 1974 is the clearest confirmation of this. Although there was never any proot of Provisional IRA responsibility, the Labour Government and its Tory allies whipped up a campaign of British nationalist hysteria against the Irish in justification of the so-called Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA). Directed in the first instance against Irish workers in Britain. the PIA was directly modelled on repressive legislation used in Ireland and is a basic assault on the democratie rights and liberties of every worker in Britain.
The lynch-mob atmosphere around the Birmingham bombings itself prompted the first right-wing strikes seen in this country since the 1968 march by London dockers in support of Enoch Powell. It is no coincidence cither that the objective effect of these strikes was to encourage the Loyalist forces in Ireland. Both actions were stimulated by the same ideology of Great British nationalism.
statement by Revolutionary Marxist Group Belfast branch The Revolutionary Marxist Group repudiates al action or a sectarian char acter not because it holds any illusions in the power ot conversation as an instru ment for winning Protestant workers to the struggle for a Socialist Republic, but because it recognises that sectarianism is a product of British imperialism, and anv adoption of a sectarian policy can only further the interests of that imper The anti-Unionist pecple of South Armagh have waged a valiant fight over the last years against both the british Army and it Loyalist para-military allies. When the struggle elsewhere appeared to be ebbing, soun Armagr has come to the tore and raisea oul morale. Imperialism was not blind to this, and has pursued a policy of isolating South Armagh to defeat the struggle there and thus heighten the effectiveness part one wilen tosters unity oerween une worker. and their capitalist expioners in a common identification and makes national minorities the scapegoat tor capitalism s crisis.
It is this same 'national unity" which is being invoked today by the Wilson Government to justify 1½ million unemployed and the imposition of the 16 wage limit.
Nevertheless, the development of the world recession - and of the British econ ome criss in parucumr = Is operar up a deep split between British workers and ine imperianst system. mis D necessity must also involve a break with the ideology of Great brush natonansm British workers will nover take any lasting political step forward if they remain blinded by this ideology in the case of It is the most right-wing forces who gain most from such a situation. The Tory party, for instance, has taken the PTA a step forward by proposing police registration of all Irish people in Britain. This would make it compulsory by law for all landlords to report on Irish tenants. Similarly, it was the lynch-mob atmosphere of British nationalism which allowed the Tories to launch their campaign for ine return o nanis This is not to say that we are on the verge of fascism in Britain. But it does mean that uniess british labour makes the cause of Irish freedom its own, not only will the Irish revolution itself be postponed for many years, but the prospects for a socialist Britain will be extremely remote.
Same role April this year will mark the 60th anniversary of the Faster 1916 Irish rebellion, which was ruthlessly crushed by the British Army. Doubtless there will be many public meetings and tine words spoken about the martyrs for the Irish cause. But 60 years later, the British Army is still playing exactly the same role - this time in Derry, Belfast and South Armagh, and wherever there is a sign of discontent and rebellion against British rule.
The time and place have changed but the story remains the same: the irish people have fought and struggled against successive waves of imperialist onslaughts, but in practice the voice of British labour has remained silent. We believe that the best way to honour the memory of 1916 and those who died is to honour the cause for which they fought.
Today that cause lives on in the struggle by the oppressed minority of the North against 16,000 British troops; and any contribution wnien is meangru cannot be judged by words alone but by effective action to get the Army out of Ireland. Concretely that means building for the 1 February demonstration. Let all those who proclaim support for Irish freedom in Britain be judged around this key test. ot repression eise wiere The South Armagh Republican Acton rorce is alding britisn imperialısn to succeed with that policy. It offers no defence for the nationalist people in South Armagh against either the British Army or tne Loyalist para- military squads. It must cease its policy of assassination.
The Revolutionary Marxist Group has time and again stressed the necessity to oula united moonisations of ue ante Unionist population on the streets as the most ettective means or derence. ouci mobilisations are particularly urgent now, Tor It is on the pertormance of the antiUnionist population on the streets of beltast Newrv and berry mat une strucere in South Armagh as in the rest of the Six countes will De deciaec G. Lavery (Press Officer), 7 January
Red Weekly 15 January 1976 nocee there have aread been a merely a means of putting pressure
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and its importance in the struggle for a socialist Britain. Although we intend to deal with the broader issues raised by this and the errors of other tendencies in the labour movement, our purpose is not to cut across the
rary, we believe that this can only increase the participation of all class conscious workers and heighten our understanding of the issues involved.
Irish freedom and