First Published: The Call, Vol. 8, No. 2, January 15, 1979.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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The invasion of Democratic Kampuchea should serve as a call to action for people around the world to unite together in the broadest possible front to oppose the USSR-Vietnamese aggression.
This blatant act of war is not just an attack on the sovereignty of an independent, socialist country, but the early offensive in the global strategy of Soviet social-imperialism leading to a new world war.
There should be no doubt left in people’s minds that Moscow has become the main source of a new world war in its contention with U.S. imperialism and that it is the most dangerous of the two superpowers.
This latest act of aggression presents a threat to all the progressive and peace-loving peoples of Asia and the world. For the working class it is doubly offensive because it is a blow at an emerging socialist country in the third world.
The people of the U.S. have shown in the past their militant opposition to war and aggression in general and particularly in Southeast Asia, where for years our own rulers were the main force behind the unjust war that ravaged the homelands of the Indochinese peoples. The mass opposition that was forged through the long years of the war played a major role in aiding the liberation struggles in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos to their victory. Today it is once again necessary for us to show our firm opposition to this latest invasion of a sovereign state.
To oppose the aggression in Kampuchea, it is not necessary to have complete agreement on all other political questions. A broad united front should be built of workers, students and intellectuals, businessmen and peoples of various nationalities. This should include, not just those sympathetic to socialism and the policies of the government of Democratic Kampuchea, but all those who, for their own reasons, stand opposed to the invasion.
There are many who are still confused by Vietnam’s and the USSR’s “socialist” disguise or by the mountain of slanderous material that the U.S. press has published against Kampuchea – slanders that have been largely refuted by recent press visitors to that country. Others may be taken in by the formation in Hanoi of the so-called “United Front for National Salvation” which has now been placed in power to serve as a puppet regime in much the same fashion as the Lon Nol clique was placed in Phnom Penh by the U.S.
It is important therefore to carry out patient work among these people, to combine militant mass actions with education work and to win over the great majority in a long protracted struggle. Relying on the firmest fighters against aggression and domination, we must unite closely with all those who can be united to support the people of Kampuchea in their heroic fight.