fighters, and elements such as Vereecken - newly elevated by Healy to the rank of veteran Trotskyist"
- who were described by Trotsky himself as placing themselves outside of reality politically" and characterised by the founding congress of the Fourth International as having 'utilised their formal membership mune movement one rour mcmanonal to flout its principles, sabotage its discipline, and give aid and comfort to its enemies.
VILE METHODS On Healy's method, of course, he is an 'accomonce or all these elements Portunate y tor nim ne isn't an 'accomplice, or 'agent' - he merely illustrates ine rule tnat a you descend into tne gutter all you will come up with is filth.
Healy's record is also public for the world to see. He sits in the ruins of a smashed and wrecked organisation. The International Committee of the Fourth inemauonar nas cone unroumn me vre memnoas used against the Spartacists, the split with the Lambertists, ine disgusung expuision or Alan nomeu, ine. hounding of Tim Wohlforth, and now it is reaping the whirlwind. The explosion of its organisation in Australia and the collapse of its forces in the United States are merely the harbingers of the destruction orts cult society monain as ucry healy looks back on his life he can truly record, 'everything I Dull turned to dust But the political decline has now led to a moral and personal degeneration as well. We no longer have merely sectarian positions, social democratic errors, and violent methods - now we have organised and conscious lving on the largest scale which Healy's resources will permit.
The historical path to this is clear. First the 'International Committee' used little lies to aid arguments a out - arter al, as tne rabiones or te Fourth International are objectively agents of capitalism, then if the SLL/WRP couldn't find the evidence it could 'serve the interests of the working class" by inventing it. Then unfortunately Healy's lies were exposed and ne was unable to reply. une answer wa. clear - just censor the membership a bit and step up the lying.
POLITICAL GUTTER But once Healy opened the door just that inch to the lying and abandonment of principles, he embarked with iron logic on the road to the political gutter.
As for the proposal in Workers Press for a world investigation on this matter, it is beneath contempt even to discuss seriously whether Joe Hansen is an accomplice of the GPU. Healy learnt that trick from the textbook of any tenth rate bourgeois lawyer, from the Stalinist methods in the Comintern, and Healy-takes his methods from Stalinists SECERITY AND THE FOURTH INTERNATIONAI and leader seet PART ONE TERNATERANCOMMETTER THE FOURTH ACCOMPLICES common attitude towards it helped to reunify the mainstream of world Trotskyism. The SWP, barred by reactionary legislation from affiliating to the Fourth International, declared its support Tor Ene reunicanon but seaw sayee away. ni SWP had clearly capitulated to Pabloite revisionism'. At all costs the disease must not be allowed to spread. Their own ranks must be inoculated against it. And so they were.
navis embakea on a sccraman tracetory Healy began to pay the price. In his current's total obsession with mense ves mew now deme‹ that the Cuban revolution had taken place. Castro was qualitatively no different from Batista. Here we have a model example of sectarian subjectivism. Since the victory of the Cuban revolution goes against our immediate sectarian interests, let's not even admit that it's taken place. It's in Latin Amer ica in any case, and none of our members will know enough about it to seriously challenge the assumpLIOR "INNOVATION"
For self-proclaimed revolutionaries in an advanced capitalist country to deny the reality of a socialist revolution albeit in a small, far away island - because to do so would weaken their factional arguments against their opponents, was certainly an innovation in the Trotskvist movement. Stalin had applied a similar criterion to Yugoslavia after Tito had refused to accept Stalinist dominance over the Yugoslav party and state apparatus. Stalin had then also resorted to calling Tito every name under the sun ame mad been ovary ecnocu ov norce in rar is and Togliatti in Rome. Purges in the Eastern European parties had wiped out all supposed Titoist deviationists.
Healy has taken his time, but now employs similar methods against his opponents within his own "party' as well as his factional opponents in other groups. This sort of degeneration is political. If you have a sectarian political line, you have to bulla an organisaton wnere It is never senousty challenged. Sectarian politics of necessity require a nionolithic organisation. Sectarian training of members in verbal violence opens the way to to paysia voienee aganst your opponents If vou tell vour members that the dreaded Pab Loite revisionists are the agents of the petty-bourgeoisie in the workers movement pretending to be Trotskyists, or are police agents or agents of the Soviet bureaucracy, the door is then open for physical attacks on all political opponents both inside and outside your own sect. This has aiso occurred in the sect now led by Gerry Healy, Mike Banda et al When a workers state degenerates we call for a political revolution. When a working class organisation degenerates we call on its members to wage a hant asamst uns acceneranon APPEAL We therefore appeal to the members of the WR comrades, study the history of the movement of which you claim to be a part. Study the writings of Trotsky the documents of the Left Opposition. the documents (all of them) related to the polemics in the Fourth International and ask vourselves whether the methods being used by your leaders are more whether or not there was something wrong with the way in which Alan Thornett and his comrades were expelled from your ranks.
Follow the advice given by Marx to his daughter "doubt everything'. particular, doubt everything your leadership tells you without studying the case of vour opponents Ask yourselves why it took Healy nearly four decades to discover that Hansen and Novack were are accompuces we doubt whether you will be able to save your organisa tion, but it is certainly the only way you will be able to save yourselves as revolutionary militants!