December 5th, 2006 is the ninety ninth anniversary of Lin Biao’s birth.
IRTR recognizes that Comrade Lin Biao made great contributions to the cause of communism. There are many unanswered questions about Comrade Lin’s downfall, however, there is not enough evidence to unquestioningly maintain the verdict of Tenth Congress Report delivered by Zhou Enlai and derivative accusations. In addition, the claims in the Tenth Congress Report are based on dubious documents or information that it is impossible to check at the present moment. Many contradictory claims were made about “Lin” in the following years. An allegorical “Lin” was used as an indirect way for Maoists and revisionists to polemicize against each other.
Here is a short list of the positive accomplishments of Comrade Lin Biao:
1. Lin was known as China’s greatest general. He played a critical military role in the people’s war.
2. Lin allied with Mao from an early period. Lin became described as Mao’s “closest comrade in arms.” Lin was also designated as Mao’s successor.
3. Lin rejected the Theory of Productive Forces in the military in the struggle with Peng Dehuai. Lin put the People’s Liberation Army on a Maoist footing. The PLA became a giant school of Maoism.
4. Lin Biao provided the power base that allowed Mao to launch the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and take out revisionists like Liu Shaoqi.
5. Lin Biao was an overall ally of the Gang of Four in the early years of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
6. Lin, along with Chen Boda, elevated “Mao Zedong Thought” to a new stage of Marxism. Even though they never used the word “Maoism,” they closely associated the idea of a new stage with continuous revolution under the Dictatorship of the Proletariat and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
7. Long Live Victory of People’s War is attributed to Lin Biao. The clear implication of this document is that there is no revolutionary situation in the first world due to the rise of a parasitic labor aristocracy based on super-exploitation of the Third World.
8. The Ninth Congress Report is attributed to Lin Biao. This document, perhaps more than any other single document, explains the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
9. Numerous other excellent Maoist documents are attributed to Lin Biao.
The crypto-Trotskyists and fakes use the “Lin” canard as a way to attack Maoism and the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. IRTR opposes those who use a strawman “Lin” to stab at the heart of Maoism. Genuine Maoists can disagree over the verdict on Lin, however, Maoists should not ignore Lin’s positive accomplishments altogether. At this time, IRTR will not enter into controversies regarding the overall assessment of Lin Biao. IRTR only wishes to defend aspects of Lin’s undisputed actions and statements attributed to him that are correct but attacked by revisionists to undermine Maoism as a whole.
