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11 September 1997 Edition

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Back issue: Queue behind Carter

Now that President Carter has internationalised the Irish war, we hope his action will help loosen the inhibitions of other powers which might have felt obliged to refrain from interfering in the pretended ``domestic problems'' of the British crown.

The Soviet Union was the first state to recognise the Irish Republic, as declared in 1916 and affirmed by the overwhelming majority of the Irish people at the all-Ireland general election of 1918. That recognition never was withdrawn.

This autumn the 60th anniversary of the Russian Revolution is to be celebrated. What better way to celebrate it than declare that the Irish people are as entitled to freedom today as they were 60 years ago; that freedom has been denied them for all of those 60 years; that British imperialism is the major obstacle; that the Soviet peoples demand the withdrawal of British imperialism from Ireland and, in the interim, a United Nations discussion of British aggression, which includes continuing torture and the suspension of human rights, in general, in Ireland.

Whether these major powers will decide to risk treading on the British lion's corns by backing effectively their oft proclaimed anti-imperialism remains to be seen; on their words or on their silence their sincerity will be judged by millions of people throughout the world. Should they decide to speak out we hope that theirs will be less ambiguous than the Carter statement.

An Phoblacht
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Ireland