Democratic Palestine : 2 (ص 26)
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- Democratic Palestine : 2 (ص 26)
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Angola 1983, Lebanon 1982
Same Story, Same Aggressor
Today the racist regime in South Africa is facing a multi-faceted
challenge:
— Internally, the African National Congress continues to advance
in the context of overall mass opposition to apartheid and the capital-
ist super-exploitation it ensures. This past year, the ANC has clearly
exhibited its rising military capacity. Moreover, the formation of the
multiracial United Democratic Front, with goals similar to those of
the ANC, gave political expression to the snowballing popular
resistance to Pretoria’s policies.
— In occupied Namibia, SWAPO is continuing its liberation war
in defiance of Pretoria’s recurrent claims to have “crippled the
terrorists”. SWAPO’s mass base remains firm, as does its internation-
al status as the sole, legitimate representative of the Namibian peo-
ple.
— Despite ongoing South African-instigated destabilization at-
_tempts, Angola and Mozambique retain their determination to sup-
port SWAPO and ‘ANC; and ‘to work for the socio-economic pro-
gress of their own people. The very- existence: of ‘these popular,
revolutionary governments is pérceived as.a:threat by the South -
African racists, because of the example thus provided to the African
masses fighting apartheid and occupation.
New invasion in gold mines, mining houses, platinum
these investors is US CIA Director Willi-
-am Casey.” (AfricAsia, January 1984, cit.
_ing US agencies’ internal studies).
. Here oné is reminded: -that in’ De-
cember 1982, South African soldiers
massacred over forty persons in Lesotho,
in a raid purportedly directed against
ANC members. This occurred just after
This past December, the Pretoria re-
gime set out on a new military venture,
intended to settle accounts.with these
challenges once.arid for all. Up to 2,000 °
South African troops, supported by air
raids and artillery, including internation-
ally forbidden chemical] shells, pushed
far into Angolan territory. Announced as
a preemptive raid against SWAPO guer-
rillas, the invasion was actually an at-
tempt to undermine Angola’s independ-
ent policy. This was the rationale for
massive death and destruction, inflicted
first and foremost on civilians. |
Many parallels can be drawn between
the latest South African invasion and the
1982, Israeli invasion of Lebanon. Most
significant is that, in both cases, it was
actually US imperialism’s war that was
being pursued. Behind Pretoria’s drive
for “security” lie vital US economic and
‘strategic interests.
For one, US investment in South Afri-
ca is much greater than normally as-
sumed. “Instead of 2.6 billion (officially
noted direct investments), total US fi-
nancial involvement is probably in ex-
cess of $14.6 billion... 250 of the ‘Fortune
500’ biggest US corporations maintain
subsidiaries of affiliates in South Africa...
US investors own 572 of all foreign hold-
ings of the Johannesburg stock exchange
26
+
mines, Debeers and Palamin. Among.
Casey visited Pretoria with a CIA report
warning of ANC’s growing influence,
which the report termed a threat to the
US policy of “constructive engagement”
with the South African regime. Later,
South African radio reported that the US
and South Africa had reached a mutual
agreement whereby Pretoria intervenes
in neighboring countries as the US does
in Central America (Swedish left news-
paper, Proletaren, May 1983).
This corresponds to imperialism’s
need for a garrison state to protect its
interests in southern Africa, as the Zionist
state does in the Middle East. More spe-
cifically, the current invasion was in-
tended to enforce the US condition that
Cuban troops withdraw from Angola
before Namibia’s independence can be
determined, this in accordance with the
Reagan Administration’s global anti-
communist crusade.
US diplomacy ‘“to the rescue”
However, the South African troops
met concerted resistance from the Ango-
lan armed forces, and hundreds of young
Angolans flocked into militias to defend
their country. Like ‘Israel’ in Lebanon,
Pretoria tasted the difficulties of impos-
ing its retrograde political aims through.
military conquest’ alone. The racists
themselves’ admitted more fatalities
among their troops than in any military
campaign since 1975, and officials spoke
openly of the fact that South Africa could
not bear the economic burden of the in-
vasion or of sustaining the destabilization
Furniture factory in southern Angola, destroyed by Pretoria’s terror bombing - هو جزء من
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