A-Infos (en) Solidarious #17 Sep. 2002 - Kante kati gamo to stanio sas!1 George Tenet, CIA chief - September 11 as a starting point...

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September 11 became a milestone in the entire procedure
of global sovereignty advancing and confronting its
multiform enemies. As a response to the internal shock
and the global effect the strikes in Manhattan and the
Pentagon had caused, September 11 became the date
when "war against terrorism" was solemnized as main
priority for the USA and dozens of ally states, taking the
shape of a gigantic campaign all over the world.

A campaign that according to the place it is developed
activates the entire ideological, political, legal, economic,
military and police armory the bosses have at hand. The
presidential motto: "those who are not with us are against
us" was quite eloquent for the binding and urgent
character of each participation in this campaign, that
targeted all opponents of "new world order" as "terrorists"
and was addressed as a threatening warning to all those
who were not attending the camp of the "forces of the
good". Neo-McCarthism and the hysteric hounding of
"internal enemies" in the U.S., the bloodstained military
campaign in Afghanistan and Guandanamo
concentration camp for the prisoners of war, have
signaled the atmosphere of terror spread by the bolting
"anti"terrorism.

The greek state, as part of the ally-states complex, didn't
need any special invitation to participate in that
international "crusade", and it did what it could, enjoying
the transatlantic tokens of merit. But it always remained
accountable for its inefficiency in confronting the
"internal enemies", in that extent that it was placed
second, after Colombia, in the list of states overrun by
"terrorism". [this definition is used by the transatlantic
bosses not only for armed struggle and sporadic symbolic
attacks, but also for spontaneous events of social
violence, like the night of Clinton's visit in Athens, in 19
Nov. 1999]. It's true that before S11 the local authorities
were not showing the necessary unity and agreement in
the way to confront all these aspects of the phenomenon
described as "terrorism". Their internal antagonisms, that
had already lead to the abolition of one "anti"terror act in
the beginning of the 90's, made the voting for a new
terror-law in 2000 quite difficult, and it was signed at the
last moment. But despite all ominous forecasts, even this
new act was not immediately and spectacularly enforced.
It remained as reserve in the legal armory, until the
proper chance would appear.

Because of the "war against terrorism" being mainly a
political cause, apart from its police-juridical aspect, it
was really disappointing for the local and foreign bosses
to find out again the lack of any social mobilization
against "terrorism", in spite of all the relevant
propagandistic efforts. In contradiction with the
allegations expressed by the local authoritarians for
reasons of international consumption, all that
heart-breaking propaganda around the execution of
British military attache St. Saunders (which was the
pretext for the voting of the new "anti"terror act) had not
created any social consent against "terrorism". And how
could it be differently, when it is very difficult to get any
social identification with that "innocent" british brigadier,
and all those other "innocent" of the same kind. It is
indicant that until recently -March of 2002-, even in the
middle of the colossal propaganda after S11 and the
"anti"terrorist hysteria imposed globally, only 2,5% of the
people asked in Greece considered "terrorism" to be a
social problem.

It is also true though that September 11 was a milestone
for the formation of a new atmosphere in this country as
well. That imperative one-way saying "those not with us
are against us" didn't leave much room for differentiation
inside the authoritarian block, and of course even less
could it tolerate any social objections to the "anti"terrorist
campaign. What if the "anti"terror act was only recent
and its voting so full of adventures? After S11 it was
outstripped and thus -without badgering this time- we
saw the start of a process to replace it by the new and
even worse European "Anti"Terrorist Act, which is based
on the british one, passed after S11 and defining as
"terrorist" any activity that opposes the existent
sociopolitical status.

June 29, the unstable accidental factor...

But what could never be achieved by the existence of
terror-laws and propaganda alone, as long as the local
and U.S. agencies (together with the british after
Saunders' execution in 2000) hadn't any success, took
place in one and only moment. The explosion of June 29
came to be the greek "September 11", relatively speaking
and respecting the differencies of course, in the sense
that it became the starting point for a rapid acceleration of
state terrorism, with the absolute recruitment of the
media in the task of extracting the maximum possible
consent and imposed social silence in front of tele-
terrorism.Certainly, the cops acted like prepared from
long time; besides, that was the case they were working
in, following many different paths. But the way was
opened due to a mistake - which they were waiting for
many years- revealing the role of accidental factors in
history. So, there's no reason for anyone to exaggerate
their police genius, which is usually exhausted in
murdering and torturing defenseless people, immigrants
mainly. Let's not forget that the same american agencies,
for many years could not track down Unabomber, and
managed to do so only when his brother turned him in!

Of course that example is not accidentally mentioned.
The attitude of some of those arrested for 17 November
was far from being exemplary. On the contrary! The new
special laws, special imprisonment conditions ("white
cells") and tomorrow's special courts are not legitimate
and consolidated in social conscience only because they
're voted and decided; they are specific points of
confrontation and resistance for the wider social-class
struggle. And definitely, this struggle is impeded when
the first persons to receive all those repressive means are
becoming tame prey to their hangmen.

The symbolic end of "political change era"2

In a symbolic level, 17N's "dislocation" proves the end of
a whole era, that long time now seems to have finished in
many more levels: the Political Change period, when this
organization appeared and without doubt has put its mark
on.

If the whole post-war period is stigmatized by the central
character of the divisive conflict between the Left and the
Right -where the Left was shattered from the civil war
and the Right was prevailing, with half of the population
in the role of outcasts-, then the controlled end of the
military Dictatorship and the "normolization", giving over
the power to the politicians of bourgeois Democracy,
meant the beginning of a reverse way. The legalization of
KKE (Communist Party) which was before considered
"treasonable" was the first step in that course, and surely
this defeated -since decades- and capitulated remnant did
what it could to serve the regime. We should not forget
that the main demand it supported in those crucial years
after the Dictatorship was "democratization", that is the
establishment of bourgeois Democracy.

"National Reconciliation" and "oblivion" were the other
two mottos of that time, and were "justified" by the
accession of PASOK (socialist party) to the power.
"National reconciliation" had its reference to the outset of
the sociopolitical division in the period of Occupation3,
and it was symbolically achieved by the institutional
recognition of "National Resistance" (a resistance which
was despoiled of its class background and characterized
"national", including "Hites", "Tagmatasfalites"4 et.c).
"Oblivion" was referring to a mutual silence for the zenith
of the division between the Left and the Right: the civil
war5, where these two forces fought to the extremes. The
ideological construction that appeared then, saying "it's
the foreigners that made us kill each other", had no other
purpose than convince both that there were no real social
and class reasons that made them have an armed
conflict, but they were imported from abroad!Naturally,
there was a part of the left that didn't look upon favorably
the change of 1974 and didn't have the perspective of a
profitable compromise. So, it came to antagonize it in
many levels. Massive class struggles that took place in
the 70's, for example in many working places, but also a
series of dynamic and violent actions show that there
were more ways attempted than that of conciliation and
assimilation. And if this antagonistic part was defeated
and weakened in the massive places due to state
repression, counter-revolutionary KKE activity and the
advance of PASOK to the power opening the gates of
assimilation in the beginning of the 80's, there was also
another part, more a minority but less visible and much
more offensive; this was impossible to be neutralized
despite all efforts and neither the endless police frameups
against many militants nor the profuse nonsense about
agent-provocateurs expressed by KKE and other
institutional lefts managed to succeed it. (And since this
mud-slinging has been completely ridiculed today, the
revolutionary/anti-regime character of this type of action
that opened in that period and continued for longtime
remains indisputable).

In any case, the strategic goal of the political change era
lies in the end of the civil war and post civil war division
and in the removal of those (needless in modern times)
discriminations it was bearing, so that maximum social
and class pacification would be attained and the "political
game" between the Left and the Right would be limited in
the frames of the parliament and the other institutions of
liberal bourgeois Democracy.

The deepening of this process and the absence of a more
contemporary and less dogmatic analysis of the greek
reality these last 25 years, rather brought to a dead-end
concerning their prospect, enfeeblement concerning their
support and discouragement concerning their
continuation those who kept fighting being orientated by
the Left, its political culture and symbols, like Aris6 and
Che, and moreover lending this Left a sosialpatriotic
anti-imperialist rhetoric and a national liberation
character!!

For better or for worse, whatever this bipolar figure of
Left and Right meant in a social and class level, it was
clearly declining in the Political Change and long time
now means nothing or almost nothing. This doesn't
mean that there are not deep social and class
contradictions today. On the contrary! It means that
today's social and class contradictions, as formed the last
25 and mainly the last 10 years, don't correspond to that
old and archaic bipolar sphere and in spite of all generous
efforts of those interested to maintain it, it doesn't work.
Aris, December7, Grammos8, Makronisos9 , the Junta
belong to the past and now the left is almost entirely
incorporated in the system. Left are the political and
economic bosses that govern since 1981 and left is the
eminent "intellingencia" of the country.

Obviously this is the reason why the political supervisor
of "Coutner" terrorism was months before barking with
all his authoritarian arrogance that "17N has been
ideologically and politically defeated and the only thing
left is the operational defeat". This is why now KKE
stigmatizes them as "agents" and almost the entire
non-parliamentary left turns its back to them.

The new era that symbolically began with the operational
end and the attempt to criminalize and mainly to
declassify ideologically and politically this group that has
been humiliating the state for almost three decades,
appeared with unrestrained cries of triumph by the
bosses, the politicians, the cops, the media, the snitches
and "intellectual"-lackeys. They are so drunk with the
unexpected "success" against 17N that are now setting
more expanded aims, targeting especially the
anarchist-antiauthoritarian milieu and having in view to
arrest dozens more militant people and to drag society
crawling and paralyzed behind the chariot of
"counter-terrorism". And they won't just limit themselves
to "do something gamo to stanio tous"!, as the
greek-american asshole who's in chief of the CIA said;
they intend to "overdo it", literally! It's up to the social
resistance if they will succeed and if criminalizing
militant people will be just a walk for them.

Finally, the reality of these last two months, at least as it
appears, is certainly interior to the 27 years "myth". But
all those now rejoicing over this fact should remember
that today's predominance of the state is not
retrospectively valid as no story can be read from its last
page, but from its first...

As for the story of social and class struggle, this one
never ends because the struggle continues... and it will
continue until the State and Capital belong to History. ...

what if a storm calmed down yesterday; tomorrow there's
hurricanes coming!

a comrade

PS. This text was written before D. Koufontinas who was
wanted by the police turned himself in taking the political
responsibility for all actions rivendicated by EO 17N.
What can be added is that NO MILITANT who takes the
responsibility of his political action and stands with
dignity against the State IS ALONE.

NOTES

1 "Do something, you fucking....!!!" (Un-translated!
greek invective by greek-american CIA chief G. Tenet,
advising his fellow greek officials to take care of their
business, that is to fight "terrorism".

2 The period after 1974, year of the fall of the military
dictatorship that started in 1967.

3 German army occupation.

4 Paramilitary greek fascist corpses to confront
communist guerilla in the mountains.

5 1945-1949. The communists were the losers of the civil
war...

6 Aris Velouhiotis, captain of the communist guerilla.

7 December '44, army and police open fire at a
demonstration of 600.000 people in central Athens.

8 Battle of the civil war in the mountain Grammos, 20-21
August 1948.

9 Island which was used as place of exile for political
prisoners.





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