Giscard's triumph

Scan page 2

the petty-bourgeois nationalist leadership of ZANU and ZAPU of regaining the initiative and restoring the political direction of the mass struggle to the corridors of secret diplomacy, and removing it from the grasp of the rank and file and the mass oppressed.

Mugabe's and Nkomo's betrayal of the working class did not begin today with the government of 'national unity', nor even with the signing of the President Giscard. d'Estaing's tour of the Middle East has so far proved a spectacular triumph in the grand tradition established by Charles de Gaulle.

With matchless hypocrisy, Giscard has vaunted the independence of French imperialist foreign policy from the 'superpowers, and raked in the reward of substantial advantages for French capitalism over its other imperialist competitors.

It is a trick which never seems to fail, much to the chagrin of the bourgeoisie in Britain, West Germany or the This time round, the winning card was played by the French president in his joint communique with the feudal lords of Kuwait calling for the 'selfdetermination of the Palestinian people' Rapid declarations of support from London and Bonn came-amid irritated observations that Giscard had in reality said little more than the current commonplace of imperialist diplomacy-but they came too late to forestall the manoeuvre.

Giscard was able to tuck into his suave pocket a promise from the sheiks of the United Arab Emirates to supply all France's crude oil needs in recognition of its support for 'Arab rights'.

Giscard's flair and finesse stood out in dazzling contrast against the shoddy background of Carter's diplomatic bungling.

Panic pleas that the US vote at the UN Security Council condemning Israeli settlements on the West Bank was an 'error' caused by a communications mix-up did nothing to ease Zionist anger, and a great deal to expose the opportunism of US diplomacy.

The vote itself-like Giscard's tour-was certainly part of the concerted shift by the imperialists towards a new policy in the Middle East, which is not centred exclusively on the Zionist state but based on firm alliances with both Israel and the Arab states of the region.

Such a policy needs to include some 'solution' to the Giscard Palestinian problem if it is to have a hope of success.

But in the short-term, the US imperialists | are forging ahead feverishly to strengthen their new fortress in Egypt. Sadat's regime is to be supplied with massive military resources of the most sophisticated type, and developed to replace the Shah's dictatorship as the chief imperialist policeman in the region.

It is not a job with good long-term prospects: the Shah had to vacate the post in a hurry and there is no reason to believe that the workers and peasants in Egypt will find their new relationship with imperialism any more attractive than their sisters and brothers in Iran did before them.

Scan page 3

PRESS, Wednesday March