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Editorial

By VVAW

Political repression has become an established fact of life in the US. It is the result of a decaying, corrupt system and the efforts of the few that rule it to hold on to their power.

To do this they must try to destroy the people's movement of resistance to their greed. VVAW/WSO is no stranger to this repression. One need only note the incredible frameup of the Gainesville 8 conspiracy trial.

Now the latest example of massive political repression is being enacted in N. Calif. There, the government is using the SLA as an excuse for launching a general wave of repression against the people's movement and VVAW/WSO in particular. The Oakland trial of Bob Hood is symbolic of the repression---- but it is most certainly not confined to Bob Hood and the Bay Area. FBI agents are daily contacting our members in cities across the country in calculated attempts to scare them away from the organization, intimidate their family and friends and cause them trouble at their jobs.

While VVAW/WSO is one of the organizations directly affected by the repression surrounding the SLA, it is by no means the only one. Repression of this sort is increasingly found in all sectors of our society. We need only witness the heroic struggles of political prisoners in this country: people like Lawton & Gardner, Ruchell Magee, the Attica Bros., the Leavenworth Bros., or Melvin X. Smith. Nor is it isolated to political prisoners or ?movement' groups. It is also increasingly directed at all working people in the US. The Struggles of the Farmworkers, the Farah strikers or the Harlan, Ky coal miners are but a few cases in point.

The result of the Government's repression, however, is to make people even more aware of who they are and the incredible strength they have in unity. As the contradictions between the needs of the people and the greed of those that rule heightens, repression will correspondingly increase. The inevitable consequence of this is resistance: repression breeds resistance! Moreover, experience has proven that repression can only cause us to regard our work with even greater seriousness and determination.