The Irish Republican Socialist Committees of North America take this opportunity to again reiterate our position that the United States should keep its hands off Ireland. As Britain's closest international ally, and the world's leading imperialist power, the United States is anything but a neutral party on the subject of Britain's continued partition and occupation of Ireland.

We have witnessed the role the US plays in such matters all to well in the recent intervention in the talks between the Zionists and Fatah. Despite the Zionist State being unexceeded as a beneficiary of US financial assistance -- and, in fact, unequalled when private assistance from the US is factored in -- and despite that State having signed an agreement that called for three separate troop withdrawals from the West Bank this year, intended to remove the overwhelming majority of Israeli troops, the US were somehow unable to to find the means to make their ally in the Middle East honor its agreement. Despite the blatant violation of the agreement by the Zionists, the US Secretary of State had the nerve to lecture to the Palestinians regarding their failing to move towards accomodating the Israeli plans to reduce their troop withdrawals to virtually nothing, while making public plans to move new settlers into the occupied territories.

This is not the kind of "assistance" Ireland needs. What, in fact, Ireland needs, is to have an Irish settlement of the differences between its various communities, within the context of a nation no longer divided through partition and occupation.

Nor does Ireland need the American style "econmic miracle" that created the robust economy the capitalist press loves to cheer on as a "Celtic Tiger," wherein over 30% of the population within the 26 counties remains below the poverty level. The sovereignty that Ireland needs, is one that extends to its material assets and forces of production, held by the entire nation and utilized in the interests of the vast majority of its people.