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Show yd v The threat of ; lot Polish solidarity By U.S. Congressman Jim Hansen As the crisis in Poland escalates, Americans are asking themselves why the Polish military has imposed marshal mar-shal law. Newsweek magazine, in an article on Poland asks, "Did Solidarity go too far?" Other commentators wonder how extreme and extensive the crackdown will be. For all those who remember the history of the Soviet invasion of Hungary in 1956 and of Czechoslovakia in 1968, the answers to the Polish crisis are clear: in light of Solidarity's independence in-dependence from the Polish communist party, the crackdown was inevitable. It is the purpose of this crackdown to see that all Polish institutions and organizations be eliminated totally, or weakened to the point where they can no longer compete viably with the Polish communist party and its one party Marxist-Leninist system. In order to understand the present Polish situation, one must understand the nature of the "Marxist-Leninist" system imposed on Poland by the Soviet Union after World War II. A Marxist-Leninist state is the most odious form of communism where the communist party dominates society completely. After the 1917 Bolshevik revolution in Russia, the Bolshevik leader V.I. Lenin began to mold a political system based on his interpretation of Karl Marx's theories. Unfortunately, IxMiin believed that a true Marxist revolution could only on-ly be accomplished if all diversity and dissent were crushed and if the communist com-munist party controlled nil private and public institutions. When the iron curtain countries stray too far from the Marxist U'ninist concept, con-cept, they arc brought back into the fold, and as In the case of Hungary and Czechoslovakia, by direct and violent Soviet military intervention. I Poland has always been a thorn in t Soviet's side. Because of the religious commitment of the Polish f pie to the Catholic Church, the Sov-i have been forced to accept a sys-U within their immediate sphere of at fluence where another institute a namely the Catholic Church operate s V freedom from control by the natx si, communist party. The alternative to allowing I Catholic Church's existence woul the systematic murder of milhonf irs Poles. Even for the Soviet Union, would be too much of a task. One and a half years ago, Marxist-Leninist system, the free r union movement Solidarity was w u This was a movement with nutt members- movement free fromc trol of the communist party. The diehard Polish Communis their Soviet masters could see i cracks beginning to form in " totalitarian system. If Solidary allowed to exist, then other institutions would spring up, ana r Polish communist party tually be forced to share its F within a pluralistic system. This fear of freedom and its i ae panying dissent and divM spectre that haunts the com the Kremlin. They know that JJJT must be crushed in Polandno spread to other ?fl Jjj countries and eventually toUie Union itself. V, The questions we should bi !j . ourselves at this point is not the naive query. "Did Solidarity far." but rather why allowed to go as far as it dW. was It even allowed to be born. tfr As the enemies of ftwgm " g, down on the courageous o -thank Cod for our freedom any ( firm our resolve to 'PhV tyranny and oppression In w form it takes. |