CHAPTER SEVEN

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WHO MURDERED THE GIBRALTAR THREE?
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1  MRS THATCHER AND HER CABINET, particularly Geoffrey Howe and Tom
King, who authorised the planned ambush and the use of the SAS in the
full knowledge that the three would be shot dead. It is true that Mrs
Thatcher's hatred of the IRA knows no bounds. She has seen her close
political friend killed by them and she is determined to get revenge.
But there is more at issue than the strong feelings of this woman.
Since British troops first went into Ireland to try to put down
nationalist opposition to the sectarian Six County statelet, state
terrorism has been the stock-in-trade of the British government. In
the face of a popular, anti-imperialist liberation movement successive
British governments have used murder, torture, juryless courts,
internment without trial, special repressive laws such as the PTA,
daily harassment on the streets.

All of these practices are well-documented. For example in 1976 even
the bourgeois European Commission of Human Rights found the British
government guilty of torture, and inhuman and degrading treatment of
internees. This was modified on appeal to the European Court of Human
Rights to simply 'inhuman and degrading treatment'. In 1988 Britain
was again found guilty of illegally holding people under the PTA for
periods of up to seven days. The British state has built and equipped
a formidable machine of repression in the Six Counties. As part of
this apparatus it has trained specialist undercover assassination and
dirty tricks units. Those of its enemies in Ireland that it cannot
intimidate or railroad into prison, the British state is prepared to
murder.

So while Mrs Thatcher and her Cabinet must be the first people in the
dock, let us not forget all the previous governments, Labour and Tory,
which have used identical methods and helped to build the repressive
apparatus.


2  NEIL KINNOCK AND HIS LABOUR PARTY. After the Gibraltar killings
they joined the celebrations in Parliament. George Robertson, Labour's
foreign affairs spokesman, praised the security services and said:

    'I don't think anybody can afford to be squeamish given the
    evidence. These bombers don't display much squeamishness for their
    victims. A major tragedy was averted. We've got to be glad about
    that.'

In fact even after Geoffrey Howe admitted to the House of Commons that
there was no bomb, Robertson was so determined to attack the IRA that
he merrily continued to talk of 'this enormous potential bomb...
placed opposite both an old folks' home and a school'.

And as the evidence mounted up high enough to show even an idiot that
the Gibraltar operation was murder, Labour kept quiet. Their
overwhelming loyalty to British imperialism made them blissfully
unaware that Mrs Thatcher was vulnerable on this issue and was
feverishly acting to protect herself. Had Labour, for once, managed to
act like an opposition and raise the issues about Gibraltar, we might
not have seen the obscene displays of triumph over the Gibraltar
killings at the Tory Party Conference nor heard the chants of 'Ten
More Years'.

So into the dock alongside Thatcher and Co must go Kinnock and his
timid crew.


3  THE MEDIA. With few exceptions, the most notable being Death on the
Rock, the British media not only failed to dig out the truth about
Gibraltar but also actively supported the government story. Murdoch's
filthy rags, the Sunday Times and Sun, acted as straightforward
government mouthpieces spreading lies and attacking witnesses. But
what of the others? Where were the hard-hitting investigative pieces?
Where was there an ounce of the spirit of enquiry? Again, with one or
two exceptions (such as The Observer's Ian Jack), nowhere to be seen.
This complacent and cowardly spirit has aided the government in
continuing its murderous course in Ireland. It has also aided the
government in its general attack on democratic rights. It is, after
all, rather difficult to defend democratic rights with a government in
power that openly murders people on the streets.

Let us put Murdoch and his crew in the dock.


4  THE GIBRALTAR POLICE. It is clear that they played a much greater
part in the planning and execution of the operation than was revealed
at the inquest. They played a crucial part in its cover up.
Journalists have been told unofficially that all the Gibraltar police
involved in the operation have been sworn to secrecy forever.


5  THE SAS OF COURSE. A well-oiled killing squad that gets its orders
and carries them out. They are the ones who get their hands dirty. It
was interesting to hear Soldiers A to D give evidence at the inquest.
Whilst intelligence officers and SAS officers spoke in the
well-modulated tones of the British public school, Soldiers A to D had
working class accents. The British ruling class does its killing at
one remove. The corridors of Downing Street and the Ministry of
Defence remain clean.


6  THE SPANISH GOVERNMENT, allegedly a socialist government. Its
socialism must be like that of Kinnock, a cowardly subservience to
imperialism. They traded the truth about Gibraltar for some military
hardware.

These - politicians, military, media - are the murderers of the
Gibraltar Three.

It is a crowded dock, is it not? Packed with those who have real power
in British society. Packed with those who claim to be the makers of
laws and the givers of morality. They live by the morals and laws that
suit them: self-interest, lies, murder. Yet they attack the IRA and
other liberation movements for using force and military methods. When
the SAS opened fire on Mairead Farrell, Daniel McCann moved in front
of her to protect her. That is morality. When the Irish people fight
to free their nation so that their children can grow up decently, be
educated, find work and housing - that is morality. When young Irish
people sacrifice their freedom and their lives for a future they will
not see - that is morality.

It is time that the British progressive movement showed that it
rejects the morality of Thatcher and Kinnock. It is time that the
Irish people were given effective solidarity both in their interests
and in the interests of the British working class.

For twenty years, the British left and working class movement has
virtually ignored the Irish question. On the rare occasions that they
have not ignored it they have usually spent equal amounts of time
condemning the British government and the Irish liberation movement.
The consequences have been felt not only in Ireland but also in
Britain. Take only the latest example, that of censorship. The British
government has been able to impose censorship on the British media
broadcasting.interviews with the Republican Movement. The result of
this anti-democratic action is that all voices of opposition to
British rule in Ireland will find it harder to be heard.

How can the British working class defend its own democratic rights if
it fails to defend those of the Irish people? There will be struggles
in Britain and there will come a day when many British working class
families will have to bury their sons and daughters and face farcical
inquests. Will they then remember Gibraltar and bitterly wish that
their leaders had done something about it?

The best and most lasting tribute to the Gibraltar Three and all those
murdered in Ireland would be a free and liberated Ireland. In Britain,
all those who oppose British oppression of Ireland should unite to
build an effective movement to demand:

            TROOPS OUT NOW!

            SELF DETERMINATION FOR THE IRISH PEOPLE!
