US embassy in Greece attacked

[Red October]

ATHENS, Greece (CNN) -- The U.S. Embassy in Athens has been hit by a rocket in an attack that anonymous callers claimed was staged by militant left-wing group, authorities said.

U.S. Ambassador in Greece Charles Ries said no one was injured in the explosion on Friday morning. Damage was minimal but it was still being treated as a "very serious attack." (Watch as Charles Ries discusses the embassy blast )

Greek Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras said Greece "strongly condemns" the attack at about 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) on the fortified building, The Associated Press reported. (Map)

"We believe it is a symbolic act," he said. "It is an attempt to disrupt our country's international relations."

He added that police were checking the authenticity of phone calls to a private security firm claiming responsibility of behalf of the Revolutionary Struggle.

The guerilla group claimed to have carried out an unsuccessful 2006 assassination attempt on Greece's culture minister and has become the most serious domestic threat since the dismantling of the deadly November 17 group in 2002.

Police chief Asimakis Golfis was reported by AP as saying the attack was an "act of terrorism. We don't know where from."

"There was a shell that exploded in the toilets of the building ... It was fired from street level," Golfis added.

Greek and U.S. counter-terrorism officials were on Friday scouring the compound's grounds and nearby buildings for clues shortly after the blast. Ries said officials planned to review the embassy's surveillance cameras. (Officials describe blast as "terrorist attack" )

Ries told CNN the missile was fired from across a broad avenue. Despite having the embassy set back from the road by more than 20 meters (about 70 feet) "there probably is not a spot that would be so far away that a missile couldn't be fired."

The ambassador was hesitant to specify if the object was a missile or rocket-propelled grenade, citing the investigation was ongoing.

The incident was "a very serious attack," he said, adding that a professional team is collecting debris around the compound, which is being treated as a "crime scene."

"There can be no justification for such a senseless act of violence," Ries said.

The only damage visible from outside the embassy was a window blown out on an upper floor.

Police sealed all entrances and exits to the embassy and cordoned off the block around the compound, causing an almost complete standstill of traffic during the morning rush hour.

Chaos erupted inside the embassy after the explosion, an embassy staff member said.

Student uprising
The heavily guarded embassy in Athens has been the site of protests in the past. It was the target of a rocket-propelled grenade attack in February 1996. That attack caused minor damage.

Greece has suffered a history of domestic terrorism. In the past 30 years five U.S. Embassy staff members have been killed by the elusive November 17 terrorist group, Ries said. (Read about November 17)

The group takes its name from the date of a 1973 student uprising against the military government that ruled Greece at the time. In 1975 Richard Welch, CIA station chief at the U.S. Embassy, was the group's first victim. Its most recent victim, in 2000, was Brig. Stephen Saunders, Britain's senior military attache.

The killers typically leave pamphlets espousing anti-U.S. and anti-European Union ideology.

"Fortunately as a result of a break in 2002 many members of November 17 are behind bars and the frequency of domestic terrorism has gone way, way down," Ries said.

However, authorities do not know if a Greek-affiliated group or individual staged Friday's attack or whether it was launched by a foreign element.

Its apparent successor, Revolutionary Struggle, has also claimed responsibility for attacks and espoused anti-American sentiments.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis have been briefed and, according to Ries, Bakoyannis is willing to provide any assistance needed.

Ries apologized to all Athens residents for the inconvenience.

i dont know much about the November 17 group. what are your thoughts on this?

[cantona]

Huge respect to the Greece leftist/anarchist scene! Wish more people would be this brave.

[Keyser]

Whether or not revolutionaries support the concept of an urban guerrilla insurgency, we must not oppose them and they deserve our support as comrades in struggle.

Unlike the US regime, which bombs and kills innocent civilians without a care in the world, be it in Iraq, Afghanistan, Haiti, Yugoslavia or Somalia (to name the recent imperialist offensives), the group that attacked the US embassy in Athens, the Revolutionary Struggle, has always made careful it's policy of not harming civilians in their armed operations, unlike the US imperialists.

There is a very strong and deep rooted anti-imperialist feeling and worldview in Greek society, across all age boundries and even from middle classes to working classes, due to the fact that the US had supported the brutal and oppressive military dictatorship in Greece, the Colonels Junta, from 1967-1974. The armed revolutionary groups such as the Revolutionary Struggle should make all efforts to combine and unite their actions with a mass movement, both above ground and 'legal' to the revolutionary underground and 'illegal', to seek the overthrow of the capitalist state and system in Greece.

[An archist]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6254399.stm

Anyone heard of this? Opinions?

[Dr. Rosenpenis]

BBC article on attack by Revolutionary Struggle (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6254399.stm)

By no means am I condemning these leftists or advocating their incarceration, but I don't view this as a serious mass struggle with clear objectives, but rather as more or less petty, wanton terrorism.

[Janus]

There is already a thread about this in Politics.

Merged.

[piet11111]

i support this action and have deep respect for the poeple that risked their freedom and possibly their lives for what they believe in.

and at the same time i feel sad to be unable to honour this act by actions of my own against the american agressors.

[bcbm]

Meh. Good work hitting the embassy, although their conception of struggle has been more or less eclipsed by the insurrectionists in Greece.

[Louis Pio]

What will this action mean? Nothing, we all know that. It will change nothing whatsoever, trying to play selfappointed avantguard for the workers will at the worst result in apathy among the former.

[вор в законе]

In the beginning, my first feelings were positive. But after the initial excitement, I realized that such attacks, when they are not coupled with the masses, only make the system stronger by giving leverages to limit our liberties. Plus, there is still no official declaration by the Revolutionary Struggle which makes the entire situation dubious. We already have policemen here who pose as 'anarchists' and break everything in order to put the blame on the real one's. Anyway we will see...

[Janus]

History has shown that attacks like these are pointless whether they're committed by Revolutionary Struggle or November 17 or Red Brigade or RAF,etc. They only result in greater repression and a backlash against such movements and tendencies rather than unify or build support for their cause.

[Vargha Poralli]

These guys look like a buch of Adventurist Individuals.Surely acts like these without involving Masses in the struggle will get us nowhere. History had shown this and the so-called left-wingers better learn from it.

[UndergroundConnexion]

Massive respect , going out to the Greek anarchist who did this. This is something different then a lil protest march in front of an amabassade

[Luís Henrique]

Well, it proves a point.

That there are idiots in Greece, too.

Luís Henrique

[razboz]

Originally posted by Luís [email protected] 13, 2007 04:42 pm
Well, it proves a point.

That there are idiots in Greece, too.

Luís Henrique
Yeah i agree with Luís and the others. This attack does nothing to harm the USA or to weken its hold over large parts of the world. Nor will it cause anyone to rally to their cause. I can think of at least fifty more usefull things they could have done, and it would have saved them the expense of getting an RPG or missle launcher ...

[HASTALAVICTORIASIEMPRE]

Originally posted by razboz+January 13, 2007 04:59 pm--> (razboz @ January 13, 2007 04:59 pm)
Luís [email protected] 13, 2007 04:42 pm
Well, it proves a point.

That there are idiots in Greece, too.

Luís Henrique
Yeah i agree with Luís and the others. This attack does nothing to harm the USA or to weken its hold over large parts of the world. Nor will it cause anyone to rally to their cause. I can think of at least fifty more usefull things they could have done, and it would have saved them the expense of getting an RPG or missle launcher ... [/b]
Has or could communism ever achieve anything without violence? (Excluding South Africa) Has there every been a major political shift without violence and was it not Marx himself that said the only path to communist revolution was through violence?

[cumbia]

How did they get the cash to buy one these things? Thats what im thinking.

[Keyser]

Has or could communism ever achieve anything without violence? (Excluding South Africa)

South Africa has never been communist or even socialist in any shape or form.

Aparthied is gone, but under the ANC, South Africa is a bourgeios democracy with a free market economy.

[bcbm]

Originally posted by [email protected] 14, 2007 04:14 pm
How did they get the cash to buy one these things? Thats what im thinking.
Probably one of the ones N17 stole from some museum.

[вор в законе]

Its not difficult to find firearms like this. RPGs are not very expensive.

[YSR]

Every action taken against capital and the State in the name of freedom and equality and conforming with the standards we hold ourselves to should be supported.


Originally posted by razboz
This attack does nothing to harm the USA or to weken its hold over large parts of the world.

Organizing is 90% of the battle, but there's nothing wrong with breaking the spell of State superiority. We must continue to illustrate that the institutions of control of our lives are not impervious. While these attacks may not have directly ended imperialism, they continue to show that imperialism can be challenged.

I'm rather disgusted with all you so-called revolutionaries who condemn these folks. They're trying to wake people up and strike a blow against oppression. Victory and good luck to our comrades!

[Jesus Christ!]

I think this should be a huge wake up call to the people sitting in the U.S. Embassy about the way they are viewed. Maybe they won't feel as comfortable anymore on their thrones.

[Janus]

Probably one of the ones N17 stole from some museum.
It's never been used before in previous attacks.


They're trying to wake people up
It's pretty clear that they need to resort to different tactics if they are to wake up anyone.

[Luís Henrique]

Originally posted by [email protected] 14, 2007 09:16 pm
Has or could communism ever achieve anything without violence? (Excluding South Africa)
At this moment, it doesn´t seem to have achieved anything, either with or without violence.


Has there every been a major political shift without violence and was it not Marx himself that said the only path to communist revolution was through violence?

The fact that violence is necessary to make a communist revolution does not mean that each and every act of violence is revolutionary...

Luís Henrique

[Luís Henrique]

Originally posted by Young Stupid [email protected] 15, 2007 05:22 am
They're trying to wake people up and strike a blow against oppression.
Yawn.

Call me when something happens.

Luís Henrique

[Louis Pio]

I'm rather disgusted with all you so-called revolutionaries who condemn these folks. They're trying to wake people up and strike a blow against oppression. Victory and good luck to our comrades!


All this "but at least they do something" is the worst argument ever. You don't help in building massmovements by being a selfappointed vanguard. At worst it will result in apathy. Taught we learned our lessons with the failure of the "urbanguerillas" in the 70'ies, the result was death of young people who could have used their forces better in the massmovements instead of seperating themselves from it.

[An archist]

They're not a self-appointed banguard, they attacked the US embassy, they showed that the Us may be strong, but you can still fire a missile at them.
Of course, this won't start a revolution, but look at the Greek context, look at the recent students revolts and the campus occupations, there is a broader leftwing movement in Greece.

[synthesis]

Using the same tactics as Islamic terrorist groups have been using for decades is unlikely to put a positive spin on this group and their activities in the public mind.

As tight as it is to blow shit up, there are probably more effective ways of taking drastic measures against the system. What were they really hoping to accomplish here? Has someone used the word "adventurism" in this thread already?

[Louis Pio]

there is a broader leftwing movement in Greece.


Indeed, but why the f*** are they then putting themselves outside of it? And in the worst case giving illusions on how you can change the system by terrorism.
Marxism versus individual terrorism is quite old, but it still seems we have to "invent the wheel" over and over again.


they showed that the Us may be strong, but you can still fire a missile at them.


I could go out tonight and blow up a policestation but what would it accomplish, except from repression from the state?

[bcbm]

Originally posted by An [email protected] 15, 2007 02:35 pm
Of course, this won't start a revolution, but look at the Greek context, look at the recent students revolts and the campus occupations, there is a broader leftwing movement in Greece.
This is precisely why there is no need for a bunch of armed Stalinist ****s to be running around firing missles.

[Faceless]

they showed that the Us may be strong, but you can still fire a missile at them.
so did 9/11.

[YSR]

Whereas these guys are leftists and don't kill innocent people, genius.

[Vargha Poralli]

Originally posted by Young Stupid [email protected] 16, 2007 11:23 am
Whereas these guys are leftists and don't kill innocent people, genius.
And also adventurists. They are not going to help working class achieve anything.

[AmerGuerilla]

My thing with this is that this will probably work well with the student protests or revolts and hopefully create a broader militant movement against the Greek capitalist state. Yes if you think a revolution can be created in Greece politically then go with that, but can you honestly believe that will happen in a capitalist state probably not. So if you have a chance to create a broad Greek leftist movement then shit do it.

[Luís Henrique]

Originally posted by [email protected] 16, 2007 06:25 am
My thing with this is that this will probably work well with the student protests or revolts and hopefully create a broader militant movement against the Greek capitalist state.
The reason this cannot "work well" with the students movement is that this romantic kind of thing must be done in a clandestine fashion; the people involved in it absolutely must not be involved in mass movements, for sake of security. Thus it drains people out from the real movement, even when the blanquists involved are not actively calling people to stop class struggle.


Yes if you think a revolution can be created in Greece politically then go with that, but can you honestly believe that will happen in a capitalist state probably not. So if you have a chance to create a broad Greek leftist movement then shit do it.

There is a broader leftist movement in Greece, and it cannot be created by people who don't live in Greece.

Luís Henrique

[ComradeR]

The only way you can win a revolution militarily in a developed capitalist nation, is in a single decisive blow at the heart of the regime in which you seize the nation and government in a kind of revolutionary lead working class coup. This "urbanguerilla" shit just doesn't work and can (and usually does) turn the people aganst your cause.

[Faceless]

Whereas these guys are leftists and don't kill innocent people, genius.
It wasn't meant to be clever, it was deliberately a stupid comment but it was true. So what if they demonstrate that you can hit the US with missiles. So did 9/11. Fact. If you want to know the real affect that this is already having, the Minister of Interior has renewed his calls that police should be able to use traffic cameras for surveillance, and the government. They have also raised the spectre of "measures against the terrorist threat" and are also calling for the police to ba allowed to use phone tapping. All of this should be nothing new to people living in Britain and America post 9/11. The overall effect of 9/11 and this N17 style bombing will ultimately be the same, only different perhaps in the scale to which these events can whip up hysteria. And that is true regardless of how "innocent" the victim is. Individual acts of terrorism don't work. Period. Unless if by "work" you mean whip up hysteria and give the green light for repression against the workers and youth.

[Guerrilla22]

This attack really didn't accomplish anything, aside from destroying a toilet. Its not that I condemn attacks against US government interest, I'm just not sure what was or what will be accomplished by a random rocket attack.

[violencia.Proletariat]

While I do not believe these kinds of actions are worthwhile at this point (before a revolution they would receive more support) we have to look at the target of this action. The US military supported the coup in Greece. I'm sure it means something much different in Greece to attack an American target than the posters (probably mostly americans) in this thread realize.

[Louis Pio]

Now am no american, I think violencia is right in saying we should look at what it means to people
And with my small experience with greek politics it seems a small percentage will applaud it (as on this site), while the big majority will at best be indifferent and at worst be pushed away from left massmovements.
All this action did was to make a small clandestine organisation feel important and like "true r-r-revolutionaries". It doesn't aid the struggle of the masses, which is what I think we should judge actions by.

[bcbm]

Originally posted by [email protected] 16, 2007 02:40 pm
While I do not believe these kinds of actions are worthwhile at this point (before a revolution they would receive more support) we have to look at the target of this action. The US military supported the coup in Greece. I'm sure it means something much different in Greece to attack an American target than the posters (probably mostly americans) in this thread realize.
Sure, but its still a stupid action. Firing a missle accomplishes nothing and the existence of armed specialist parties is detrimental to the movement as a whole. It'd be better to work with the insurrectionists or others in Greece to go and just smash the place up, instead of dealing with all this shit.

[вор в законе]

The attack didn't affect the left-wing movement here. Most universities voted to continue the struggle, via our general assemblies, by occupying the universities. The struggle is to prevent the removal of Article 16 of the Greek Constitution which says that education must be exclusively public. Hence we will all be in the streets protesting tomorrow. The polls show that the majority supports us, even though lately no polls are conducted about the issue by the bourgeois owned media.

So in essence, nothing has changed for the movement.

The centre-right government made an issue to use the cameras of the Olympic Games - half of which have been destroyed by the anarchists and the remaining are now used only to observe the traffic jams - to ''prevent terrorism''. But there are disagreements even within the government about this issue. That's not because they really care about our privacy but because they know that the public opinion is against the establishment of such cameras.

[Honggweilo]

As additional information, the statement from the Communist Youth of Greece;


On the Blast at the US Embassy in Athens
The projectile hit on the US Embassy in Athens, independently of its origin, gives the US the possibility to exploit it within the framework of its general offensive against the peoples.

This specific action takes place in a period when the US are bombing Somalia and increase their occupation troops in Iraq, something that has provoked reactions both internationally and inside the US. It takes place at a time when the general imperialist plan of the alleged “democratisation of the Middle East” is being advanced.

The discussion and allegations about that the damage caused to Greece's international image are misleading. The main issue is that the hit cannot serve as an alibi for the intensification of state oppression, policing measures and action of the various services.

What are needed are vigilance, alertness and action for the development of the anti-imperialist movement which is precondition for the marginalisation and isolation of every provocation, regardless of where it may originate from.

Athens, Friday, 12 January 2007, 10:30 am

Indeed the U.S wasnt shy in the recent strategical bombing of Somalia in reaction a embassy bombing a few years ago. Also CIA interference in European affairs also isnt something new, these individual RAF like act's could provoke retaliations and give the U.S and excuse for their their medling in Greece affairs.

Ofcourse this is not a reason to dismiss armed struggle, but it also gain little to nothing exept making a statement. It only works inverse against the mentality of the Greek people against leftist politics due to media slander and fear of terrorism. It plays right into the hands of the U.S foreign policy.

[Knight of Cydonia]

Originally posted by [email protected] 17, 2007 04:03 pm
On the Blast at the US Embassy in Athens
The projectile hit on the US Embassy in Athens
does the projectile blow those american's bureaucrat brains off their head?
i wish it does :P

[An archist]

Nope, it blew up a toilet.

Anyway, while this action may not do a lot in itself, it is still an attack against Us and a clear signal against US imperialism, we shouldn't condemn this action, especially if you read some more about the situation in Greece, this is a sign of the fact that the struggle there is radicalizing.

[bcbm]

Originally posted by An [email protected] 21, 2007 10:24 am
Nope, it blew up a toilet.

Anyway, while this action may not do a lot in itself, it is still an attack against Us and a clear signal against US imperialism, we shouldn't condemn this action, especially if you read some more about the situation in Greece, this is a sign of the fact that the struggle there is radicalizing.
Launching missles is not a sign of radicalization- missle launching has been going on in Greece for decades by batshit insane Stalinists, and it certainly hasn't done anyone any good. I am familiar with the situation in Greece and the reality is that these ****s have been made obsolete. The insurrectionists are more organized, more active and more capable of meaningful action than these armed specialists will ever be, and the specialists should recognize that and go the way of the dinosaurs like the leftovers from the 1970's that they are.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

It would have been nice if this many people would have condemned the U.S. bombing of Somalia.

[WUOrevolt]

Greek group claims US embassy hit

No one was injured in the attack on the US embassy in Athens
A Greek left-wing radical group - Revolutionary Struggle - has said it carried out a rocket attack at the US embassy in Athens in early January.
The claim was made in a statement to the weekly Pontiki.

Police are examining the document in which, they say, the group promises further strikes against politicians and high-security buildings.

The rocket, fired from street level into the front of the embassy, caused minor damage but no-one was injured.

Revolutionary Struggle is regarded by security experts as Greece's most active urban guerrilla group, our correspondent says.

'Potential targets'

Police said the five-page statement by the group was dropped close to the Pontiki offices.

The newspaper said it would run the full text in its Thursday edition.

"There are specific references to people that could be seen as potential targets as well as high security buildings," Pontiki editor Dimitris Benekos told Greek media.

Revolutionary Struggle opposes America's intervention in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as the economic and social policies of the conservative Greek government.

It has carried out a number of bombings and attacks in recent years.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6296841.stm

[Fawkes]

I think there's already a thread about this.

[Hate Is Art]

What part of the leftist spectrum do RS sit with? I don't know much about them, any infomation?

[Kia]

Im curious what they thought they would get out of launching rockets at the embassy......does anoyne know if they have a website or some place they post their opinions etc...?

[Janus]

Merged.


I don't know much about them, any infomation?
Their ideology consists of anti-capitalism, anti-globalization, and anti-American. They are actively seeking to overthrow the system as a means to reduce societal ills such as poverty.

[bcbm]

Originally posted by Compañ[email protected] 21, 2007 03:38 pm
It would have been nice if this many people would have condemned the U.S. bombing of Somalia.
I think it is pretty obvious we'd all oppose it, and discussing it doesn't really move forward any sort of debate. There's an actual conversation to be had here about things that are going on within the left, or rather were going on 30 years ago and are somehow still kicking, despite the weight of history.