THEMILITANTPublished in the Interest of the Working People

V o l. 30 - No. 35 M onday, O ctober 3, 1966 P rice 100

NEW YO R K — As the resu lt of protests, the A rm y has made a pa rtia l re treat in its barbarous treatm ent of the F o rt Hood Three, the an tiw ar G Is recently im ­prisoned fo r refusing to partic ipate in the V ietnam war.

On Sept. 19, Grace M ora New­man, sister of Pvt. Dennis Mora, one o f the three GIs, disclosed tha t on v is iting her b ro ther in the stockade at F o rt Meade, Md., she discovered tha t he and Pfc. James Johnson and Pvt. D avid Samas were being subjected to shocking treatment.

As we reported last week, each was confined in a separate, isolat­ed cell and compelled to stand from m orning t i l l n ight. They were forced to do push-ups as punishm ent i f they so much as leaned against the w a ll. She learned there was no fu rn itu re in th e ir cells other than a bed,

Slate N.Y. Meeting For Fort Hood 3NEW YO RK — A rally in

support of the Fort Hood Three w ill be held here on Sunday evening, Oct. 9 at 8 p.m. I t w ill be held at Town H all, 123 W. 43rd St. in M an­hattan.

The rally, to be addressed by prominent figures, w ill be a “Tribute to Three Am eri­can Heroes.”

The meeting is sponsored by the Fort Hood Three De­fense Committee. Leaflets and further information may be obtained from the com­mittee at 5 Beekman St.

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An Indonesian Communist Analyzes His Party's Defeat

— See page 4 —

DEM AND VO ICE IN SCHOOLS. Harlem pickets at I.S. 201 de­mand community voice in schools. See story page 8.

Fort Hood 3 WinBetter Treatment

and they had to eat th e ir meals e ither on the floo r or to ile t.

These shocking facts were re­ported across the country by the F o rt Hood Three Defense Commit­tee w hich appealed fo r protests to the commanding general o f the F irs t A rm y. The New Y ork Post reported Sept. 24 on the treatm ent the three GIs were being sub­jected to.

As a result, the committee re­ports, the conditions o f the three have been m odified.

The three young men are no longer being subjected to the cruel treatm ent o f being forced to stand a ll day.

Each w il l be perm itted to sub­scribe to a da ily newspaper of his choice.

W hile the three are being kept in isolation from other prisoners (fo r th e ir “ own safety,” the A rm y piously exp la ins), tw o o f them, Johnson and Mora, are now shar­ing a cell.

Pvt. Samas is s t i l l being kept in to ta l isolation. In a le tte r to his fa m ily he said th is is a deliberate pressure move and tha t he was advised tha t i f he relented on his stand his conditions w ould be al­tered.

Despite a ll they have been sub­jected to, the GIs have displayed an insp iring determ ination to stick by th e ir guns.

The F o rt Hood Three case be­gan last June when the three sol­diers file d suit fo r an in junction against being sent to V ietnam to partic ipate in “ an illega l, im m ora l and un just w ar.” A lthough the court action was s t i l l pending, the A rm y ordered them to V ie t­nam. For refusing, M ora was sen­tenced to three years a t hard la­bor and Johnson and Samas to fiv e years. Appeals are underway.

By Dick RobertsSEPT. 27 — A new “ peace of­

fensive” is underway in Washing­ton, and i f th is one is anyth ing like the previous ones, opponents of Johnson’s aggression in V ie t­nam should take warning. The adm in istra tion ’s pattern is w e ll established: a fte r each “ peace of­fensive” the w ar has been esca­lated.

F irs t there was the Democratic P a rty ’s 1964 presidential “ peace campaign.” Johnson to ld the American people, “ Some others are eager to enlarge the conflict. They call upon us to supply Am er­ican boys to do a job tha t Asian boys should do.

“ They ask us to take reckless action w hich m ight r isk the lives of m illions and engulf much of Asia and certa in ly threaten the peace of the entire w orld. More­over, such action w ould o ffe r no solution at a ll to the real prob­lems of V ietnam .” (Aug. 12, 1964)

Four months a fte r the elections, w h ich turned out a record-break­ing vote fo r Johnson, he ordered U.S. combat troops to V ietnam fo r the f irs t time, and began da ily bombings o f north Vietnam. By the end of the year, almost 200,- 000 troops had been sent over.

Johnson was faced w ith a new problem.

The w a r o f napalm bombing and chemical w arfare had become more unpopular than any other w a r in the nation’s history. Wash­ington was saturation-bombing the countryside day a fte r day, bu t had made no dent whatsoever in the area governed by the National L ibera tion Front. U.S. enclaves were barely defensible; the Sai­gon government was on the verge of in te rna l collapse.

Johnson planned to double the troop strength.

“ President Johnson’s greatest personal disappointment in the year ju s t ended,” the W hite House announced Jan. 1, “ was the fa ilu re so fa r o f the U nited States to convince Hanoi and Peking o f the s incerity o f its desire fo r peace in Vietnam.” That signaled the “ peace offensive.”

Washington sent d ip lom atic fo r­ays to numerous foreign countries; made UN speeches; crushed the Buddhist-led popular uprisings in Danang, Hue and Saigon, im pris­oning the leaders; and more than doubled its rate of a ir raids on north V ietnam includ ing tw o new m ajor targets — Hanoi and H a i­phong.

This week, the Johnson admin­is tra tion is at i t again. “ Unless the aggressor is w illin g to give up his aggression,” LB J stated in a Washington news conference, “ and s it down and ta lk , we have no choice except to t r y to defend and protect these liberty-loving, free people.”

For a second time, the task fe ll to U.S. Ambassador to the UN, A r ­th u r Goldberg, to prove that the “ aggressor” is u n w illin g to give up “ his aggression.” Sept. 22, Goldberg offered Hanoi and Pe­king a promise tha t the U.S. w ould w ithd raw its forces from south V ietnam i f they promised to do likewise.

O f course Goldberg d idn ’t men­tion tha t the prim e target o f U.S. in tervention in south V ietnam is the revo lu tionary National L ibe r­ation Front. He d idn ’t explain w hy the U.S. o ffe r was being made over the head o f the N LF to Hanoi and Peking. Even at o ffic ia l U.S. figures there are fou r times as many N L F guerrilla soldiers in south V ietnam as Hanoi soldiers, and there are no Peking troops whatsoever. And, whatever north Vietnamese troops are engaged in the figh ting , they are defending

(Continued on Page 3)

Ramparts, Monthly Review Editors, Urge Antiw ar Vote

Keating, Sweezy Back SWP SlateNEW YO RK — The Socialist

W orkers P arty campaign com m it­tee announced tha t Edward Keat­ing, publisher o f Ramparts maga­zine, and Paul Sweezy, co-editor of M onth ly Review, have endorsed the SWP gubernatoria l slate on the basis of its campaign o f op­position to the V ietnam war. Judy W hite, 28, is the SWP candidate fo r governor.

Keating and Sweezy are among a group o f independent voters who have agreed to sign an advertise­ment stating tha t w h ile they may not necessarily agree w ith other planks in the SWP platform , they are urg ing New Yorkers to cast th e ir vote fo r the ticke t as a means of registering the ir stand in favor o f w ithd raw ing U.S. forces from Vietnam.

Among those previously report­ed endorsing the SWP slate on th is basis are L a tin Am erican ex­pert John Gerassi, lite ra ry c ritic M axw e ll Geismar, fo rm er M ary- kn o ll priest F e lix McGowan, Dr. Ephraim Cross o f Columbia U n i­ve rs ity and author-critic Em ile Capouya.

W ith endorsements s t i l l being solicited, the fo llow ing are among those who have already made th e ir endorsement o f the SWP ticket, w ith organizations listed

fo r identifica tion purposes only: Moses A u try , Local 1199 Hos­

p ita l W orkers U nion; E thel Blas- berg, Washington Heights Com­m ittee to End the W ar in V ie t­nam; A lle n C hurch ill, author; L in ­da Dannenberg, F if th Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Commit-

Paul Sweezy

tee; Donna Gould, F if th Avenue Vietnam Peace Parade Com m it­tee; A n ton i Gronowicz, author of forthcom ing Broadway p l a y , “ Greta” ; James Haughton, d irector of the H arlem Unemployment Center;

Carl Haessler, member o f ex- cutive board of D e tro it News­paper G u ild ; Donald L inquist, Am erican Academy o f P o litica l Science; H a l Levin , independent candidate fo r Congress in B rook­ly n ’s 12th C.D.; D r. O. E. Moscoso, veteran Dominican independence figh te r; F e lix Munso, actor-author; Esther N ew ill, Women’s In te rna­tiona l League fo r Peace and Free­dom and Women S trike fo r Peace; Grace Mora Newman;

James E. Sallard, Jr., W.E.B. DuBois Clubs; M a rtin Sheppard, M.D., Committee o f Professionals to End the W ar in V ietnam ; B r i t ­ton W ilk ie , SDS; Prof. Robert P. W olf, Columbia U n ive rs ity ; W al­te r Teague I I I , Committee to A id the N ational L ibera tion Front.

Those who w ish to add the ir name to the l is t o f those signing the ad urg ing an an tiw ar vote fo r Judy W hite and her runn ing mates can w rite o r v is it the SWP cam­paign headquarters at 873 Broad­way, New Y ork , N.Y. 10003. Con­tribu tions to help defray the cost o f the ad are also welcomed.

Johnson Talks ‘Peace’ As He Again Readies Escalation in Vietnam

Page Two TH E M IL IT A N T Monday, October 3, 1966

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Electrical Industry NegotiationsNegotiations are underway fo r

renewal of union contracts w ith the General E lectric and Westing- house corporations. The present collective bargaining agreements w ith these monopolists o f the elec­tr ic a l industry exp ire during Oc­tober.

Over 200,000 w orkers are in ­volved, and they fin d themselves handicapped by d ivided union rep­resentation.

* * * .

D uring the CIO upsurge o f the 1930’s the U nited E lectrical, Radio and Machine W orkers (U E) emerged as the m ain representa­tive of unionized w orkers in the previously open-shop electrical m anufacturing industry. Then, a fe w years a fte r W orld W ar I I , the U E was expelled from the CIO. The expulsion took place on charges of “ Communist domina­tion ,” as the CIO hierarchy ca­p itu la ted to w itchhun t pressures generated by the capita lis t gov­ernment.

A r ig h t w ing sp lit-o ff from UE was given a CIO charter to fo rm a r iv a l union, the In te rnationa l U nion of E lectrica l W orkers ( IU E ). Since then the UE and IU E have competed fo r members, the UE as an independent union and the IU E as pa rt of the merged AFL-CIO.

Between them, these tw o r iv a l unions represent the m ain body o f unionized w orkers in electrical m anufacturing. In addition there are ten other AFL-C IO unions, in ­cluding the U nited A u to W ork­ers, w h ich have lesser member­ship components in the industry.

* * *

Taking advantage of the labor sp lit, GE has in recent years con­ducted a vicious union-busting of­fensive. The corporation has sought the in itia tive in contract negotiations, vo lunteering m in i­m al wage concessions designed to underm ine labor so lidarity , and then hanging tough on its offer. When one union buckled and signed a contract on GE’s terms th is was used to force s im ila r ca­p itu la tions upon the others. As a resu lt numerous strikes have been broken and union conditions on the job gravely underm ined. W h ile usually le tting GE take the lead, Westinghouse has been a fe l­lo w conspirator in the anti-union d rive. O n ly the unions have been d iv ided — not the corporations — and the results have been costly to the workers.

In 1960 a cost-of-living escalator clause, w h ich the unions had won earlie r, was removed from the contracts. The UE News estimates th a t the workers are losing 24 cents an hour from th e ir present pay envelopes because the esca­la to r clause was e lim inated six years ago. Another big setback has been the im position o f “ man­agement righ ts” clauses in union contracts. The speedup has been in tensified and w orker resistance hamstrung by increasingly tigh te r

LOS ANGELES SOCIALIST POLITICS IN THE 1966

LECTIONS. Speaker, Allen Taplin, So-ia list W orkers Party candidate fo r gov- rnor." Fri., O ct. 7, 8:30 p.m. 1702 E. ourth St. C ontrib . $1. Ausp. M ilita n t abor Forum.

•N EW YORK

SHOULD YOU VOTE FOR A POLICE EVIEW BOARD? A Debate. Panelists: Paul Boutelle, Socialist W orkers Party andidate fo r A tto rney G enera l: Kieran I'Doherty, Conservative Party candidate >r Lt. G overnor: and a spokesman fo r le Federated Associations for Impar- al Review. Fri., Oct. 7, 8:30 p.m. 873 roadway a t 18th St. C on trib . $1. Ausp. lilitant Labor Forum.

•TW IN CITIES

INDEPENDENT POLITICAL A C TIO N : fhich W ay in the 1966 Elections? Aanel discussion. Fri., O ct. 7, 8:30 p.m. )4 Hennepin Ave. Rm. 240. Ausp. Fri- ay N ig h t Socialist Forum.

re s tr ic t io n of grievance proce­dures. In"general the workers s it­uation has been going from bad to worse.

* * *I t appears tha t GE w i l l have

a harder tim e th is year in try in g to impose its own un ila tera l de­cision about any wage increase. The electrical workers, like the rest o f labor, have been hard h it by runaw ay prices. They have compelling reasons to show new m ilitancy s im ila r to tha t o f the a irlines machinists and the New Y o rk trans it workers who have set a fig h tin g example fo r labor as a whole. A combative rank and file mood is reflected in the state­ment by IU E o ffic ia ls tha t they won’t be lim ited by Johnson’s “ guldeposts.”

A lthough the UE and IU E have acted separately in m aking con­trac t demands upon GE and West­inghouse, -their key demands have been almost identical. Both are de­manding restoration o f the cost- o f-liv ing escalator clause. Each is ca lling fo r an immediate substan­tia l increase in wages and fringe benefits (IU E specifies 32 cents an h o u r). F u rthe r annual wage increases are demanded and an end to geographic wage d iffe ren­tials. Both ask a shorter w o rk week (UE specifies 35 hours). Another common demand is fo r improved pension and insurance plans.

* * •

Once again Westinghouse ap­pears to be lay ing back and le t­ting GE take the lead in opposing the union demands. GE started w ith an announced desire to hold to Johnson’s “ guideposts.” The demand fo r a cost-of-living esca­la to r clause was turned down and a fla t wage o ffe r made w hich GE claims w ould mean a 12 percent rise over three years. According to an IU E statement, GE’s coun­terproposal on pensions w ould mean a loss ra ther than a gain and the disagreement over geographic wage d iffe ren tia ls remains very wide.

Boutelle to Participate In Three-Way Debate on Police Review Board

NEW YO R K — The referendum on a police rev iew board fo r New Y o rk C ity w i l l be debated at the Oct. 7 M ilita n t Labor Forum. A t issue is the proposed amendment w h ich w ould ru le out c iv ilia n membership in a rev iew board, backed by the Conservative P arty and other r ig h t-w in g groups.

The panelists w i l l include a spokesman fo r the Federated As­sociation fo r Im p a rtia l Review, the Kennedy-Javits o r g a n iz a t io n w hich opposes the amendment; K ieran O’Doherty, Conservative P a rty candidate fo r L t. Governor; and Paul Boutelle, the Socialist W orkers P arty candidate fo r A t­torney General.

In preparing fo r contract nego­tia tions a coalition was formed by the IU E and the other ten AFL- CIO unions w ith members w o rk ­ing in GE and Westinghouse plants. I t is intended as a step tow ard a stronger labor position through coordinated bargaining where various unions deal w ith a single large employer.

When the IU E insisted tha t the coalition ’s fu l l negotiating com­m ittee be present a t a “ pre-nego­tia tio n ” meeting last May, GE broke o ff the talks. The corpora­tion called the presence of non- IU E representatives a “ coalition subterfuge” and accused the IU E of “ frus tra ting the a b ility o f other unions to independently w o rk out contract arrangements w ith the company.” I t was charged tha t the coalition is specifica lly aimed at s tr ik ing GE and Westinghouse as soon as the existing contracts expire.

• • *

GE was taken to court over the m atter and a federal d is tr ic t judge ordered the corporation to bar­gain w ith the m ulti-un ion nego­tia tin g committee headed by IUE. The d is tr ic t court ru lin g was f irs t reversed by a federal appeals court and then p rovis iona lly re in ­stated by Supreme C ourt Justice H arlan. As the s ituation now stands the order requ iring GE to bargain w ith the union coalition remains effective pending fo rm al submission o f the case to the fu l l Supreme Court by Oct. 24.

* * *On the financ ia l side other

AFL-CIO unions have offered the IU E $8 m illio n to bolster its re ­sources in the expected dispute w ith GE and Westinghouse over new contracts. IU E president Paul Jennings stated tha t the funds were offered to the union w ithou t any discussion of repaym ent and the o ffe r has been accepted.

In addition the recent IU E con­vention approved a 50-cent-a-week levy on each member in the event o f a s trike against e ither GE or Westinghouse.

• * *Despite the coalition o f A FL-

C IO unions involved in the elec­tr ic a l industry, the united fro n t o f the w orkers against the corpor­ations remains on ly partia l. The UE has been excluded, even though i t has made repeated pro­posals fo r UE-IUE u n ity in the contract negotiations. Factional exclusion o f the UE membership fro m the urgen tly needed united fro n t o f the workers in GE and Westinghouse can on ly give an edge to the corporations. I t weak­ens the union position at a tim e when a m axim um e ffo rt is needed to defend the interests o f a l l w o rk ­ers in the e lectrica l industry.

Noted Figures Support Nov. 5-8 Peace Action

A num ber of prom inent in d i­v iduals have added the ir names to the lis t of sponsors of the Nov. 5-8 national m obilization fo r peace in Vietnam, economic jus­tice and human rights. The m ob il­ization was called by a broadly inclusive conference o f an tiw ar activists held in Cleveland Sept. 10-11.

New sponsors of the an tiw ar m obilization include: Mrs. M artin L u the r K ing ; Father P h ilip B e r- rigan; W.H. F e rry of the Center fo r the Study o f Democratic In ­stitu tions; Stanley Sheinbaum, also of the Center and a leading expert on V ietnam ; Bronson C lark of the executive board o f the Am erican Friends Service Com­m ittee; ex-Green Beret Donald Duncan; author K ay Boyle; Iva n - hoe Donaldson of SNCC; Staugh- ton Lynd of Yale U n ive rs ity and Howard Z inn o f Boston U n ive r­sity.

P reviously reported sponsors in ­clude Jo Graham o f the Women’s In te rna tiona l League fo r Peace and Freedom; Barbara B ick of Women S trike fo r Peace; Edward Keating, publisher of Ramparts; F loyd M cKissick of CORE and C arl Oglesby of SDS. O ther spon­sors include spokesmen fo r various an tiw ar groups, the Communist and Socialist W orkers parties; the W.E.B. DuBois Clubs and Young Socialist A lliance, the National Coordinating Committee to End

the W ar in Vietnam, and the B ring the Troops Home Now Newsletter.

The Cleveland conference was in itia ted by three professors: Douglas Dowd and Robert Green- b la tt o f Cornell U n ive rs ity and Sidney Peck of Western Reserve U n ivers ity . They are organizers of the In te r-U n ive rs ity Committee fo r Debate on Foreign Policy, the or­ganizer o f the nationa l teach-in^

A . J. Muste is chairman o f the Nov. 8 M obilization, w ith offices at 5 Beekman St., New Y ork, N.Y. 10038. Pat G r if f ith o f the I.U.C. is adm in istra tive secretary, w ith offices at 107 Dryden Rd. Ithaca, N.Y. 14850. F rank Emspak of the NCC is fie ld secretary.

The C le v e la n d conference called on an tiw a r and social ac­tion groups in each area to organ­ize un ited m obilizations against the w ar during the Nov. 5-8 period to focus the attention o f the elec­torate on the issue.

Fo llow ing the November action, another conference w i l l be held. Pending an assessment o f the suc­cess of th is action, a fu rth e r w in ­te r m obilization w il l be proposed, w ith a massive East and West Coast m obilization projected fo r the spring.

The sponsors and supporting groups fo r the Nov. 5-8 m obiliza­tion are the most broadly rep­resentative of any coalition of an tiw ar forces yet achieved in th is country.

Prominent Frenchmen Urge Freedom for Hugo Blanco

A lis t o f distinguished in te llec­tuals in France have ra llied to the support of Hugo Blanco, the Peruvian peasant leader who was condemned Sept. 8 to a 25-year sentence in the dungeons o f E l F ron ton. D u ring the kangaroo cou rt-m artia l staged at Tacna, the French inte llectuals jo ined in sending a telegram of protest to President Belaunde T e rry in w hich they appealed fo r his im ­mediate release.

Blanco’s “ crim e” was the or­ganization of the peasants in to a union to f ig h t fo r land reform . He is a leader o f the T ro tskyist movement in Peru.

Among the f irs t signers o f the appeal were the fo llow ing:

A rth u r Adamov, Simone de Beauvoir, Roger B lin , M arguerite Bonnet, Edouard Depreux, Me. de Fdlice, D aniel Gudrin, M aurice Jadot, Yves Jouffa, Me. M anville , M aurice Nadeau, Jacques P revert, A la in Resnais, Frederic Rossif,

NEW YORK NEW YORK

Paul Boutelle

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Stickers: 2" x 4" brightly colored, "Vote to Bring GIs home from Vietnam — Vote Socialist Workers." 50 cents a hundred (reduced prices in quantity)

Election Leaflets: "Vote Against the Vietnam W ar — Judy W hite for Governor," a statement on Vietnam. "Vote for Black Power — Paul Boutelle for Attorney General," statement on black power. $1 a hundred.

Write or visitSocialist Workers Campaign Headquarters

873 Broadway (a t 18th St.)

Claude Roy, Jean-Paul Sartre, Catherine Sauvage, Simone Signo- ret, J .-M . V incent.

André Breton and Jean Schu­ster fo r the Surrealist group.

Jacques Lanzman fo r the edi­to r ia l board o f Temps Modernes.

Eric Losfeld fo r the ed ito ria l board o f Positif.

François Maspero fo r the edi­to r ia l board of Partisans.

NYU CORE Slates Vietnam Meeting

F loyd B. McKissick, the Na­tiona l D irector of the Congress of Racial E quality, w i l l speak on “ B lack Power and the Road Ahead” at the New Y o rk U n ive r­s ity Loeb Student Center, Satur­day, Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. M cK issick played a leading role in the de­velopment o f CORE’s m ilita n t op­position to the w ar in Vietnam.

Je rry Born stein, Projects D i­rector of N Y U CORE, announced another featured speaker w i l l be James Poitras, a CORE activ is t who refused to report fo r induc­tion in to the U.S. A rm y on Sept. 9 because he is m o ra lly opposed to the w ar. N ational CORE is p rov id ing legal services fo r Poi­tras, a w hite, and has appealed fo r funds urgently needed in the case.

These should be sent to N YU CORE, Loeb Student Center, 566 W. Broadway, New York, N.Y.

We cannot go through another ten years like the ten years at the end o f the twenties and the be­ginning o f the th irties , w ithou t having the most fa r-reach ing con­sequences upon our economic and social systems . . . We have got to see tha t w ha t the country p ro ­duces is used and sold under f i ­nancial arrangements w h ich make its production possible . . . M y contention is tha t we cannot have fu l l employment and prosperity in the U nited States w ith o u t the fo r­eign markets. — Secretary of State Dean Acheson, Nov. 1944

Monday, October 3, 1966 T H E M IL IT A N T Page Three

• • • LBJ's Escalation Plans(Continued from Page 1)

the ir country against U.S. aggres­sion.

Goldberg also d idn ’t mention tha t i f Hanoi and Peking refused to accept th is “ generous o ffe r,” the U.S. w ould feel free to esca­late its genocidal bombings in the ir direction.

B u t the b lackm ail d id not w ork; and not on ly d id Hanoi and Pe­k ing refuse to bend to the threat of bombs, most other nations o u t side of the close U.S. allies, d idn ’t fa l l fo r i t either. “ East European, Asian and A frica n diplomats,” the New Y ork Times stated Sept. 25, “ know tha t w hatever happens in the elections, M r. Johnson w il l s t i l l be in charge, and they do not expect any basic change in policy.

“ M any o f them believe the elec­tion w il l be fo llowed by a fu rthe r expansion o f the U nited States w ar e ffo rt.” Washington has played the game too often to fool any serious person about its real intentions. The w ar has gotten more unpopular every day, the Democrats are faced w ith year- end elections, bu t Johnson intends to escalate the war.

These are the main components of the “ peace offensive” — and i t is so w e ll understood tha t the New Y ork Times d idn ’t hesitate to run the tw o front-page head­lines shown in the accompanying illu s tra tion : “ U.S. Offers to Stop Raids in N o rth i f Hanoi Pledges I t A lso W ill De-Escalate,” and “ 30 Percent Increase in Warplanes Is Ordered by McNamara.”

McNamara’s proposed increase in airforce expenditures, fo r fiscal year 1968, shows the extent of long-range p lanning to escalate the Vietnamese war. B u t i t is on ly a pa rt of those plans. On Aug. 3, the New Y ork Times’ Washington correspondent Edw in Dale Jr. reported tha t the “ esti­

mate o f defense spending now be­ing used in the top economic quar­ters of the government is tha t out­lays w il l continue to rise u n til mid-1967 by about $2 b illio n every three months.”

B y comparison, defense expen­ditures were at an annual rate of $49 b illio n in the second quar­te r of 1965 and $57 b illio n by the second quarter of the present year. The proposed increases w ould b ring the defense spending to about $65 b illio n a year, mean­ing a $16 b illio n annual increase over 1965.

The Sept. 24 issue o f Business Week discloses tha t certain of the present defense contracts carry through the next several years and tha t “ to ta l do lla r outlays [fo r defense] have practica lly no chance o f leveling o ff before fis ­cal 1969 at the earliest.”

This heavy comm itment of de­fense spending, three years in ad­vance, ha rd ly speaks fo r a “ de- escalation” o f the w a r against north Vietnam, and there is w eigh­ty evidence tha t precisely the op­posite is the case. Just recently, U.S. attacks have been stepped up on the neutralized zone between north and south Vietnam, where a gigantic “ de fo lia tion” campaign is underway.

Invade North Vietnam?“ Everywhere in Washington

last week,” New Y ork Post col­um nist Pete H a m ill w rote Sept. 26, “ people were saying tha t be­fore the year is out we shall in ­vade north Vietnam. The idea w ould have been preposterous five years ago, extrem ist tw o years ago, and very, very dangerous six months ago. B u t now, people close to power have accepted it. Ac­cording to these people in Wash­ington, the invasion o f no rth V ie t­nam is now inevitable.” (Empha­sis added.)

I f th is is w hat Johnson has in store fo r the next escalation, i t probably w il l not occur u n til the November elections are over. Ac­cording to recent polls, Johnson’s w ar po licy is now at an all-tim e low in the opinion o f the A m eri­can people.

Recent PollsT h e American Broadcasting

Company released a po ll Sept. 23, conducted b y the John F. K ra ft organization in Ju ly , w hich showed tha t a bare nine percent of those queried thought Johnson was doing an excellent job and 46 percent thought his efforts were p re tty good. The latest Gal­lup P o ll brought the number down to 43 percent approval o f the President’s V ietnam po licy w ith 40 percent disapproving and 17 percent no opinion.

And the most recent Louis H ar­ris Survey, conducted in Septem­ber, found tha t on ly 42 percent ap­proved of Johnson’s handling of the w ar w h ile 58 percent d id not.

The trend is c learly towards in ­creasing opposition to the war, and th is has been a steady fea­tu re over the last tw o years. W hat the figures cited ea rlie r on the planned costs of the w ar show is tha t not only is the w a r going to escalate, bu t the in fla tio n i t causes w il l continue.

Johnson is certain to press fo r a gigantic increase in the income tax fo r next year, possibly on the order o f $10 b illion , to finance th is increase. This means the w ar w il l cut d irec tly in to the pockets of workers even more greatly than i t already has. B u t a t the same time, increased w a r expenditures w il l continue to exert in fla tiona ry pressures on the economy and i t is lik e ly prices w il l continue to go up.

In August, the consumer price

SIjjc ijjortrkN E W YORK, F R ID A Y , SEPTEM BER 23, 1966.

> "

U.S. OFFERS TO STOP RAIDS IN NORTH IF HANOI PLEDGES IT ALSO WILL DE-ESCALATE

Administration Is C a u t io u s G O L D B E R G On Prospects fo r Success]

SPEAKS,

30% Increase in Warplanes Is Ordered by McNamara

B y N E IL SHEEHANSptcli! t# Th» Vert Ttm»*

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22—Defense Secretary Robert S.| [[McNamara announced today an increase of about 30 per

in the planned production of fighter and “|c ra ft for the fiscal'year be-j

ginning next July 1.I a news conference,

th is aftei

theirlsuper!Unitcl

These headlines appeared in the Sept. 23 New York Times.

index jum ped at the very high rate o f .5 percent. That means tha t consumer prices have gone up 3.8 percent since last August, al­most at the same rate as wages. B u t i f the August rate o f th is year continues, i t threatens a whopping s ix percent jum p in the coming year — and Johnson’s present w a r plans w il l do noth ing to al­leviate th is possibility.

Johnson’s desperate attem pt to save a U.S. m ilita ry foothold in southeast Asia exposes more and

more c learly at every stage the b ru ta l and cyn ica l nature of the Am erican rulers. A t one and the same tim e they are th row ing the cream of Am erican 17, 18 and 19- year old youth in to the trenches of V ietnam, bombing on an ever w idening scale hundreds and hun­dreds o f thousands o f innocent Vietnamese peasants, and d ra in ing the pockets o f Am erican workers fo r the enormous costs — and capita lis t p ro fits — tha t th is war entails.

The North Korean Attack on ‘Trotskyism’By Dick Roberts

The N orth Korean Communist P arty has taken another step to­wards the K re m lin ’s side in the Sino-Soviet debate; and, in tr ied and true S ta lin is t fashion, the N orth Korean p a rty ’s position was indicated by a polemic in its theo­re tica l newspaper Rodong Shin- moon attacking — Trotskyism .

Pravda summarized the ed ito ria l in the N orth Korean newspaper. The account in Pravda was given w orldw ide d is tribu tion by the Soviet press agency Tass. New Y ork Times correspondent Peter Grose, in tu rn , reported i t from Moscow, Sept. 18.

“ There is no mention o f China in the version of the N orth Ko­rean ed ito ria l p rin ted in Pravda," Grose states. “ B u t in denouncing Trotskyism i t defined tha t vague ideological w ord as the princip les now being pu t fo rth by Peking.”

For the sake of its readers who do not have the proper condi­tioned re flex to the w ord “ T ro t­skyism,” Rodong Shinmoon added the fo llow ing characterizations ac­cording to the Pravda summary:

“ T rotskyism is an anti-revolu­tiona ry theory denying the pos­s ib ility o f the v ic to ry of Socialist revo lu tion and construction o f So­cialism in one country . . . The Trotskyites claimed tha t the im ­provement o f m ateria l and cul­tu ra l conditions of the people under Socialism w ould lead to corruption and degradation o f the society and create the danger of the restoration of capita lism . .

Further, Rodong Shinmoon as­serts, “ Trotskyites em phatically objected to combining v io len t and nonviolent methods in the revolu­tiona ry struggle. They insisted on on ly an ‘offensive’ and reckless rebellion. Trotskyites tried the ir utm ost to un ite th e ir supporters in various countries by inc iting

them to engineer a sp lit in the ranks of the internationa l Com­m unist movement.

“ In addition they committed a ll kinds of subversive acts in an ef­fo r t to prevent the revo lu tionary development and the a c tiv ity of the M arxist-Lenin ist parties in d iffe ren t countries.”

The Pyongyang version of “ Trotskyism ” is so distorted tha t even the New Y ork Times feels compelled to note it. “ Students o f Soviet politics,” Grose writes, “ m igh t fin d th is a ra ther strained characterization of the policies of Leon T rotsky, S ta lin ’s great r iv a l fo r leadership in the early years of Bolshevik power. . . .

“ In C o m m u n is t parlance,” Grose explains, “ ‘T rotskyism ’ is a general term o f the highest abuse fo r an ideological adversary — i t has been variously defined to suit the circumstances.”

The best tha t can be said fo r the authors of the Rodong Shinmoon ed ito ria l is tha t they are not the f irs t to use the epithet of “ T ro t­skyism” in the context o f the K re m lin ’s long-lasting dispute w ith Peking. The epithet was handed down by Sta lin and has been used w ith equal license by his bureaucratic heirs in both Mos­cow and Peking. In fact, the stub­born reappearance o f the epithet testifies to the fact th a t more is involved than s im p ly exchanging denunciations.

1963 PolemicThe f irs t extensive explanation

on the pa rt o f the Soviet leaders about w hy they insisted upon con­necting Peking and Trotskyism was contained in an a rtic le in the Sept. 13, 1963, issue of Izvestia under the signature of “ S. Ivano- v itch .”

A fte r denouncing Trotskyism as “ a gathering o f unm itigated op­portunists,” “ conspiratorial,” “ ro t­

ten,” “ bearers o f arch-reactionary concepts,” etc. etc., Ivanovitch came to w hat was rea lly bothering h im :

“ The Fourth In te rnationa l,” Iv a ­novitch complained, “ inva riab ly characterizes our epoch as the epoch o f im peria lism , of wars and of pro letarian revolutions, leaving out of account the fundam ental changes in the re lation o f forces in the w orld arena that came about through the liqu ida tion in a series of countries of Europe and Asia o f the ru le o f the bourgeoisie and of the creation of a w orld so­c ia lis t system.

Precarious Forces“ Recognizing the weakening of

the forces o f capitalism, i t a t the same tim e holds tha t the positions of the forces of socialism are pre­carious and denies the in e v ita b ility of the v ic to ry of the la tte r in peaceful competition.”

No M arxist, o f course, w ould deny the in e v ita b ility o f the v ic ­to ry o f socialism in peaceful com­petition w ith capitalism . Socialism is a superior economic system to capitalism and under peaceful con­d itions i t w ould certa in ly tr ium ph. In th is sense, Ivanovitch only heaped another of many d is to r­tions on the views o f Trotskyism .

B u t how “ peaceful” is the “ com­petition between socialism and capitalism” ? I t is precisely be­cause capita lism is fa r from a “ peaceful” system — as every single person is d a ily and h o rr ib ly rem inded b y the slaughter waged by Johnson in V ietnam — tha t Trotskyists do not spread illusions about a “ peaceful” transition from the present period o f “ im peria l­ism, wars and .proletarian revo lu­tions” to the fu tu re “ creation of a w orld socialist system.”

Trotskyism stands fo r uncom­prom ising struggle against im ­peria lism ; and the key question is

not as Rodon Shinmoon sees it, w hether th is struggle is “ v io len t” o r “ nonviolent” — the ru lin g class decides tha t — b u t w hether i t is effective o r ineffective. Does i t h inder the expansion o f im peria l­ism? Does i t stop the w orld -w ide forces o f counterrevolution and advance the forces of the in te rna­tiona l workers and peasants? O r does i t aid im peria lism , weaken the resistance of the workers and peasants, and ensure the v ic to ry o f counterrevolution?

Such questions are not some­th ing a rtif ic ia l in jected by “ T ro t­skyists” from somewhere outside the class struggle. They arise in the process of the struggle itse lf and are of crucia l importance. A good example is the case o f the Indonesian C o m m u n is t P arty w hich w ent down to defeat last year in one o f the greatest pol­it ic a l catastrophes of modern times.

Through a grossly opportunist policy, D.N. A id it, the head of the Indonesian CP, paved the w ay fo r the crushing o f the Communist P a rty and the slaughter of hun­dreds o f thousands o f its followers. H is e rro r was to place fu l l con­fidence in Sukarno, the repre­sentative o f the “ nationa l” bour­geoisie; i.e., the class enemy. And one o f the ways he succeeded in m ainta in ing th is fa ta l po licy against critic ism from the le ft was to accuse his critics o f “ T ro tsky­ism.” For instance, at the plenum of the Central Committee of the Indonesian Communist P a rty in M ay 1965, A id it declared:

“ The revo lu tionary offensive must also be directed at T ro tsky­ism w h ich has since long ago ceased to be a deviation from M arx ism and w hich is noth ing more than a gang o f po litica l bandits whose w o rk is to organize intrigues and po litica l crimes. The Trotskyites don the cloak o f M a rx ­

ism to attack M arxism , they raise revo lu tionary and ‘le ft ’ slogans to oppose the revo lu tionary move­ment, so tha t they can w ith in lim its w in over the p o lit ica lly un­educated masses.

“ The Trotskyites are not forces o f the le ft, nor are they m idd le - of-the-roaders; they are u ltra - rightists, consciously an ti-C om - m unist and anti-N A S A K O M . Therefore i t is out o f the question to bu ild u n ity w ith N A S A K O M as the axis unless action is taken against the T rotskyites as Presi­dent Sukarno and the Indonesia government have done.”

B u t w ha t happened to the “ u n i­ty ” of N AS A KO M — the coalition of nationalists, re lig ious believers and Communists — w hich A id it (and Peking) so fe rve n tly de­sired? That “ u n ity ” ended in a slaughter o f h istoric proportions.

Which Program?The question must be p u t to

Rodong Shinmoon: W hich position was “ reckless” in Indonesia? The S ta lin ist position o f “ peaceful co­existence” w ith the bourgeoisie and a “ peaceful transition” from tha t “ stage” to “ socialism,” o r the T ro tskyis t position o f uncomprom­ising struggle?

B u t i t is not to be expected tha t the editors of Rodong Shinmoon w i l l seriously consider th is ques­tion. They chose to take up the cudgels against “ T rotskyism ” as a convenient way o f s ignalling to Moscow tha t insofar as the lead­ership of the Chinese Communist Party may actua lly fo llo w a po l­icy o f in te rna tiona l class struggle, the Korean CP leaders disapprove.

They p re fer the lin e o f “ peace­fu l coexistence” in the style o f the Khrushchevs, A id its and Kosygins. I t is the line least l ik e ly to dis­tu rb a com fortably ensconced bu­reaucracy, whatever the conse­quences otherwise.

Page Four THE M IL IT A N T — »

THE MILITANTEditor: JO SEPH H A N S E N

Managing Editor: B A R R Y S H E P P A R D Business Manager: K A R O L Y N K E R R Y

Published w eekly , except during Ju ly and August when published b i-w eekly , by The M ilita n t Publishing Ass’n., 873 Broadway, N ew Y ork , N . Y . 10003. Phone 833-6414. Second-class postage paid at N ew Y ork , N . Y . Subscription: $3 a year; Canadian, $3.60; foreign, $4.50. Signed articles by contributors do not necessarily represent The M ilitan t's views. These are expressed In editorials.

^ > 3 4 5 Monday, October 3, 1966Vol. 30 - No. 35

An Indonesian Communist Analyzes His Party's Defeat

Antiwar Pickets Greet Lady Bird in California

By Hal VerbSAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 20 —

Some 300 to 400 an tiw ar pickets led by the U nited Committee against the W ar turned out to­n igh t to “ greet” Lady B ird John­son at the W ar M em oria l Opera House on the occasion of the opening n igh t of the opera sea­son.

A face-to-face confrontation be­tween Mrs. LB J and the chanting p icket lin e was fra n tica lly avoided by Mrs. Johnson. H er pa rty of elegantly dressed opera patrons was guarded by helmeted S.F. motorcycle policemen and Secret Service men.

The pickets had assembled at various points surrounding the Opera House, bu t at the last mo­ment she was whisked in through a side door entrance. This le ft the dozens of w h ite tie and ta ils and g litte rin g ly gowned spectators in the fro n t o f the Opera House dis­appointed at not seeing the ir dis­tinguished guest.

As Mrs. Johnson moved through the entrance door the pickets shouted an tiw a r slogans. She faced such signs being held a lo ft as “ End the W ar in V ietnam — B ring the Troops Home Now” and “ Beauty fo r Am erica — Burn ing fo r V ietnam .” In the meantime they kept up the b y -n ow -fam ilia r chant o f “ Hey, Hey LB J — How M any K ids D id You K i l l Today?”

Once she was inside the bu ild ing, the pickets maintained a lin e out­side the bu ild ing u n til her de­parture. D u ring th is tim e the H a igh t-A shbury A g it-P rop Thea­te r p u t on a satirica l opera en­

title d “ Stop the W ar Machine” under the talented direction of N ina Landau. The ensemble is fast becoming a popular favo rite of Bay Area citizens wherever an ti­w a r demonstrations are being held.

To the music of “ Oklahoma,” the A g it-P rop performers sang such lyrics as “ Stop the W ar M a­chine, the price is too much too high to pay; Where the people die and the children cry and the bombs keep fa llin g every day; The bombs keep fa llin g each day — M ust we destroy V ietnam .”

Inside the Opera House the Secret Service was acting lik e a bunch of “ nervous nellies” as they relocated Mrs. Johnson and her party during the Opera “ I, P u rita n i” a t least once.

Inside Sale One demonstrator successfully

entered the gilded halls of the Opera House to sell an tiw ar l ite r ­ature before her bundle was con­fiscated by an usher.

When the Opera ended, Mrs. Johnson was again hustled out of the same side door entrance she had entered.

Some of the picketers were not un friend ly , however. A delegation of local Teamsters showed up and they carried placards reading: “ Welcome Mrs. LB J .” Karen L ie - berman of the U nited Committee engaged one of the teamsters in a debate. “ W ill you welcome her when her husband breaks your strike?” she asked them.

There is no report of w hat they had to rep ly to her question.

National Committee Session Is Held By Young Socialists'■ NEW YO R K — The national committee o f the Young Socialist A lliance m et here over the Sept. 17-18 weekend to discuss plans fo r the coming period. N ational com­m ittee members came from a ll oyer the country, from Boston to Seattle, fo r the gathering. The YSA national committee meets between national conventions of the Y SA to plan YSA activities.

Top p r io r ity was placed on con­tinued YS A a c tiv ity in bu ild ing the an tiw ar movement, includ ing organizing fo r the Nov. 5-8 m ob il­ization and defense o f the F o rt Hood Three.

A message of so lidarity was sent to the F o rt Hood Three: “ Your courageous stand in refusing to go to V ietnam and fig h t in a w a r you consider unjust, illega l and im ­m ora l has inspired a ll o f us who are in the fig h t against th is war. We believe tha t the attempts of the government to victim ize the F o rt Hood Three represent an at­tack not only on the opponents of the w a r in V ietnam bu t also on the basic c iv il liberties of a ll G Is and a ll Americans. We pledge our­selves to do everyth ing we can to w in your freedom and to make the facts about your case known as w ide ly as possible.”

The discussion on the an tiw ar movement analyzed the changes in the movement over the last period, inc lud ing the tendency to ­w ard greater m ilitancy, broader

cooperation among d iffe ren t wings of the movement, and the orienta­tion tow ard bring ing the facts of the w ar to the troops.

A high po in t of the weekend deliberations was the discussion of the Negro struggle and the rise of b lack power as a slogan. Reports were given from many areas on w o rk being done by the YSA in helping to disseminate the ideas o f M alcolm X , and supporting such things as the B lack Panther P a rty in Alabama.

A special report was given on the case of the B loom ington stu­dents, three YSAers w ho have been under ind ictm ent in Indiana fo r over three years. The three, Ralph L ev itt, Tom Morgan and J im Bingham, were indicted in 1963 under Ind iana’s “ anti-com ­m unism ” act fo r th e ir socialist be­liefs. A hearing on the constitu­tio n a lity of the law is scheduled fo r th is fa ll before a three-judge federal panel.

The plenum of the national committee decided to raise a rec­ord $7,900 in a fund d rive th is fa ll.

The plenum sent telegrams of so lida rity to Garlene Bernard, w idow o f Leo Bernard, a young member o f the Socialist W orkers P a rty who was m urdered by an anti-com m unist fanatic last May, and to Jan G arre tt and W alter Graham, YSAers who were c r i t i ­ca lly wounded at the same time.

By T. Soedarso[On Sept. 30 it w ill be one year

since the events began in Indo­nesia that rapidly led to one of the greatest tragedies of our times, the decimation of the largest Com­munist Party in the capitalist world and a nationwide slaughter in which the estimates of the number of victims range from 300,000 to more than 500,000. Ac­cording to the latest reports in the press, the killings are still going on.

[Such a political debacle and mass blood-letting demand the most intensive analysis. The costly experience makes it im perative that the lessons be singled out and learned by the workers move­ment. In resolutions and articles the Fourth International and par­ties adhering to its views began this task even before the defeat by calling attention to the class- collaborationist policies followed by the A id it leadership of the In ­donesian Communist Party (P K I, Partai Kommunis Indonesia) w ith the approval of Moscow and the special backing of Peking. Up to now, prim arily because of the ferocious repression, little has come out of Indonesia itself.

[That the Indonesian Commun­ists are now beginning to review the b itter experience they have lived through, is w ell indicated by the following article. The au­thor is a young member of the Indonesian Communist Party con­cerned about assessing the causes and meaning of the tragic defeat suffered by his party. He is now in exile. As a reflection of the thinking going on in the most ad­vanced sectors of the ranks of the P K I, the article is of considerable interest and we are pleased to be able to offer it in The M ilita n t. I t originally appeared in W orld O ut­look.

[The M ilita n t w ill run M r. Soe- darso’s article in three parts, be­ginning w ith this issue and con­tinuing in the next two issues.]

* * *

“ Indonesia’s m ilita ry student ac­tion fron t, K A M I, has appealed f o r ! m ilita ry help in face of w hat i t calls m ounting Communist attacks in Central Java. A student delega­tion from Jogjakarta said here today tha t 35 K A M I students w e re . wounded in clashes w ith Com­munists. A spokesman said a cam­paign o f te rro r was underway and the K A M I leaders had asked fo r m ilita ry help.” This item appeared in the New Y ork H erald Tribune [European ed ition] Ju ly 20, 1966.

S im ila r reports have appeared w ith increasing frequency re ­cently, ind icating tha t armed re­sistance is being mounted b y the Indonesian revo lu tionary forces against the b ru ta l suppressive measures o f the Indonesian m ili ­ta ry-fascist regime. The armed struggle is occurring not on ly in Central Java, an area considered to be the stronghold o f the revo lu­tiona ry movement, bu t also in other islands of the republic.

This armed struggle, however, is s ti l l uncoordinated. I t is s til l sporadic and anarchistic in nature. I t s t i l l lacks leadership, e ither po litica l o r m ilita ry , capable of organizing an armed uprising. I t seems tha t the Communist P arty of Indonesia has not recovered from its defeat. Is the leadership s ti l l intact? Has there been a new regrouping? Where does the lead­ership stand in re la tion to this new situation? Do they s t i l l sup­po rt Sukarno, as in the fin a l state­ment of October 1965? Do they s ti l l m ainta in the old po litica l line or have they drastica lly changed it?

No answers are to be found in either journa ls or pamphlets. The masses are acting in accordance w ith the ir own judgm ent and in i­tia tive , seeking to protect them ­selves from being massacred by the forces of the Indonesian reac­tion. O ut o f loya lty , m any in the

ranks have drawn the conclusion tha t the leadership has remained silent due to “ security reasons” or as “ safety measures.”

Most like ly we are faced w ith a vacuum, the leaders having been m artyrized during the w itchhunt, or the survivors being unable to assess the new situation. The events in Indonesia constitute a catastrophe fo r the P K I in p a rti­cu lar and fo r the revo lu tionary movement in Indonesia as a whole.

I t is true, of course, tha t the fu tu re o f the Indonesian revo lu­tionary movement has not been destroyed — i t cannot be. The movement w i l l rise again in a m igh tie r force tha t w i l l f in a lly end the system of exp lo itation of man by man in Indonesia. B u t i t is a fact tha t i t has suffered a serious defeat and setback.

Nevertheless there are some to be found who s ti l l do not regard i t as a defeat but as a “ blessing in disguise” ; since now the line between fr iend and foe is very clear and the people rea lly know tha t “ i t is not we who resort to violence but the reactionaries.” Such people s til l m ain ta in tha t the past policies o f the party were quite correct, the recent catas­trophe being m erely a “ routine” incident in the revo lu tionary struggle. “ Sacrifices always occur,” they say. Thus these people do not consider i t necessary to an­alyze the previous policies, stra­tegy and tactics o f the pa rty ; they even argue tha t i t is “ prem ature” to attem pt th is o r “ i t is very dangerous because i t can lead to a sp lit in our movement.” The ir advice is to “ ju s t continue the struggle in line w ith the past policy, only w ith more caution and vigilance.”

This stand is not correct. We should pay tr ibu te to the fa llen heroes of the people; we should salute the m artyrs o f the revo lu­tion ; we should prepare re tr ib u ­tion fo r the b ru ta lity of the reac­tionary forces; we should express so lidarity w ith a ll who have suf­fered. B u t can we ju s t continue “ spontaneously,” m erely pursuing the struggle w ithou t seeking a better road, more e ffective meth­ods?

No! We must recognize tha t i t was a setback, a b ig setback. We must dare to uncover the m is­takes of the past tha t led to th is fa ilu re . A nd we must have the courage to make the necessary corrections so tha t we won’t fa ll in to the same fa ta l errors again. C ritic ism and se lf-c ritic ism are necessities fo r a healthy revo lu­tionary movement.

In m y opinion, the fo llow ing mistakes led to the present de­feat.

I

The Policy of Seeking to Achieve Socialism

by Peaceful MeansThis was the most fundamental

error. The P K I believed tha t so­cialism in Indonesia could be achieved by peaceful means. As stated in the constitu tion of the P K I: “ To achieve its goal, the P K I fo llows peaceful and demo­cratic ways. This is w hat is sought by the P K I and w hat w il l be consistently pursued.” 1 And the second secretary o f the Cen­tra l Committee of the P K I, M . H. Lukm an, explained th is as fo l­lows:

“ The constitution now mentions the possib ility of a transition to socialism by peaceful means. The­ore tica lly as w e ll as practica lly, th is has an im portan t meaning . . . in face o f the propaganda o f the reactionaries, we feel i t necessary to a ff irm the possib ility of a tran ­sition to socialism by peaceful means. B y emphasizing tha t we1. Constitution o f the P K I. C entral Com­mittee of the P arta i Kom m unis Indone­sia, Jakarta, 1964. P . 16.

Khrushchev

are going to make th is possib ility become a rea lity, we can thereby show the people tha t i f violence does occur, i t was not started by the Communists o r was due to them and i t is not at a ll wanted by the Communists.

“ From the theoretical po in t of view, to a ff irm the possib ility of a transition to socialism by peace­fu l means, signifies a ffirm in g the tru th tha t M arx ism -Len in ism does not po in t to absolutely the same road fo r socialism in a ll countries in d iffe ren t periods and in d if ­ferent in te rnational conditions. This also means tha t we M a rx is t- Leninists do not bind ourselves to certain forms, methods and roads of completing the revo lu­tion, because everyth ing depends on the concrete balance o f power among the existing classes, on the qua lity of the w orking-class o r­ganization and its enemy, on the a b ility of the w ork ing class to a ttract its allies to its side, espe­c ia lly the peasants, and on taking in to account the existence o f dem­ocratic institu tions in each coun­try . ” 2

In the same speech, Lukm an said fu rthe r: “ In accordance w ith the teachings o f M arx and Lenin; namely, by tak ing in to account the objective conditions o f the w orld balance of power between the socialist and democratic forces on the one hand, and the im peria l­ist forces on the other, and con­sidering the experiences in the East European countries where the transition to socialism d id not occur through a c iv il w ar, Com­rade Khrushchev at the Twentie th Congress of the CPSU stated the conclusion tha t in the present s it­uation certain countries have a real possib ility of reaching so­cialism in a peaceful w ay.”

I t is therefore understandable w hy the P K I was unprepared fo r armed struggle when the crisis came last Oct. 1. The P K I con­centrated ac tiv ity on ly on the “ legal” or “ parliam entary demo­cratic” p la tfo rm . I t completely ignored preparations fo r armed struggle by the workers and pea­sants under the leadership of the w orking-class party. This was w e ll-know n to the reactionary forces; consequently they launched a qu ick b ru ta l action to liqu ida te the revo lu tionary forces. The only hope fo r the revo lu tionary forces was to seek safe retreats, bu t i t was already too late. The to ll was ▼ery high.

Because of th is be lie f in a peaceful w ay of achieving social­ism, and perhaps especially be­cause of the advice of “ Comrade” S ta lin and la te r “ Comrade” Khrushchev, the leadership of the P K I w illin g ly , i f not even fa ith ­fu lly , fo llowed Sukarno’s personal leadership and teachings.

Sukarno was considered by the party to be a “ pro-people’s ele­ment” and even the “ great leader o f the revo lu tion.” The reactionary2. M . H . Lukm an, A bout the Constitution. Jajasan Pembaruan, Jakarta, 1959, pp. 26-27.

day, October 3, 1966 Page Five

unist Analyzes His Party’s Defeatforces b ru ta lly massacred mem­bers of the P K I and other revo lu­tiona ry forces in the name o f Su­karno; yet Second Secretary N joto s til l said, “ The P K I recognizes only one head of the state, one supreme commander, one great leader of the revolution — President Sukar­no.” Furtherm ore, “ I t is President Sukarno united w ith the forces of the people who w il l decide the destiny and fu tu re o f Indonesia.”

In accordance w ith the Oct. 10, 1965, instructions of the P o litica l Bureau of the Central Committee of the P K I, N jo to continued, a ll pa rty members should “ fu l ly sup­po rt the directives o f President Sukarno and pledge themselves to im plem ent these w ithou t re ­serve.” (The Oct. 10 instructions have not been w ithd raw n to th is day.) The pa rty was s ti l l seeking to m ainta in the peaceful road. N jo to said, “ O ur party is m aking every e ffo rt in its power to pre­vent a c iv il w a r.” *

As fo r the Indonesian Arm ed Forces,, the P K I held tha t they constituted forces of the people, since the ranks were made up of the sons of workers and peasants. This v iew po in t was maintained even a fte r the “ Oct. 1 a ffa ir ,” N jo to saying: “ We do not consider the Indonesian N ational Forces to be like the armies of im peria lis t countries or the arm y of India. When you appraise an army, you should study and take in to ac­count the h is to ry o f its form ation, its role in the struggle against im peria lism and feudalism, its composition w hich is m a in ly made up of fo rm er poor peasants or workers. I t is true tha t there are s ti l l antipeople’s elements w ith in the National Forces of Indonesia. This is also true concerning the republic as a whole.” And he stated tha t “ our pa rty has never had its own arm y.” *

Stalin

Let us now examine the argu­ments and viewpoints indicated above.

I t was argued tha t i t was ne­cessary to fo llow a po licy based on the possib ility of a peaceful transition to socialism in order to counteract the propaganda of the reactionary forces; i.e., the pro­paganda tha t the Communists are “ terrorists,” “ monsters,” etc. B u t w hat was the result? The repu­diation of the use of armed struggle in achieving revo lu tionary goals only demonstrated the weak­ness of the revo lu tionary forces in the eyes of the reactionaries and created a feeling o f insecurity among the masses.

The propaganda of the reaction­aries can be counteracted by ex­planations and by action. Through explanation i t is possible to com­p lete ly expose the real character of the reactionaries. The facts of3. These statements were made to a Japanese correspondent. See As»bl Shlm - bun, Tokyo. Dec. 2, 1965.1. ib id.

Sukarno

h istory constitute the best source to show the people the crue lty and b ru ta lity of the reactionaries. For example, the massacre com­m itted by the reactionary Hatta government in 1948; the b ru ta l “ August Razzia” comm itted by the reactionary Sukim an government in 1951; the b ru ta l armed suppres­sion carried out by the reactionary generals against the peasantry in Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi and other islands; the bombings carried out w ith planes furnished by the im ­peria lis t U.S. and' the massacre comm itted by the reactionary reb­els in 1958, etc., etc. Past ex­perience provides the best lessons fo r teaching the people about the b ru ta lity o f the reactionaries and the necessity to resist such b ru ­ta lity through armed struggle.

And the propaganda of action is s ti l l more im portant. The people w il l trus t the Communists and have real confidence in the party i f the Communists genuinely de­fend th e ir interests and show themselves prepared through sac­rifice and armed struggle to safe­guard the people from oppression and suppression by the exp lo iting classes. The Communists must de­monstrate tha t they are rea lly cadres of the w ork ing class and rea lly on the side of the exploited masses; and are not m erely plead­ers w ith the “ haves” nor colla­borators w ith the “ good people.” Socialism cannot be achieved by pleading b u t on ly through armed struggle by exploited masses un­der correct leadership provided by the w ork ing class!

A id it once said, “ The develop­ment of the party, besides de­pending greatly on the united fron t, also greatly depends on armed struggle. The advance or decline of armed struggle greatly influences the advance or decline of the united fro n t and the pa r- ty .” 5 B u t w hy did th is remain on ly words w h ich were not car­ried out in practice?

Le t us consider the “ experiences in the East European countries.” Wasn’t the revo lu tion there led by the Soviet Red Arm y?

The Cuban Granma was quite correct when i t said ed ito ria lly : “ We are not denying tha t in a given country, under certain very special conditions, an exception could occur in the fu tu re ; never­theless, not one case can be cited of a v ictorious revo lu tion which has been able to avoid the use of violence, insurrection or armed struggle as fundam ental methods. This is a universal experience and the po litica l position of the Com­m unist Parties must be developed by tak ing in to account w hat has been learned in the practica l ex­perience of revolution and by probing deeply in to i t . ” 6

In the development of the In ­donesian revolution, many oppor-5. D . N . A id it, Fo rty Y r»ra of the P K I. Jajasan Pembaruan, Jakarta, 1960. p. 61.6. Granma, Havana, Cuba, M a y IS, 1966. (English Edition .)

tun ities arose fo r the P K I to mo­bilize the workers and peasants in to revo lu tionary armed forces and to counteract and liqu idate the reactionary elements in the “ National A rm ed Forces of Indo­nesia.” These opportunities were ignored.

For example, during the cam­paign fo r the liberation of West Ir ia n from Dutch colonialism, the people were mobilized in to vo l­un ta ry un its in antic ipation of a clash w ith the Dutch im peria lis t forces. This should have been u t i­lized by the party to mobilize the workers and peasants and to set up bases fo r armed struggle. The party did engage in this, b u t not w ith the objective of carry ing out a socialist revolution. The move­ment was lim ited to libe ra ting West Ir ia n and i t was disarmed after this aim was achieved.

Again during the campaign to crush the neocolonialist regime of “ Malaysia,” the party contributed greatly in m obiliz ing the masses, bu t w ithou t b ring ing in the idea o f armed struggle fo r the socialist revolution. Thus the chance slipped by to set up bases fo r armed revo lu tionary struggle. Even worse, the pa rty le ft the leadership of the vo lun ta ry units in the hands of reactionary gen­erals.

Another excellent opportun ity came during the campaign fo r un ila tera l action to take over the land belonging to the big land­owners. This action was led by the P K I. Day by day hundreds of thousands o f peasants took part in the action. They faced armed suppression by the feudal forces backed by the reactionary gen­erals. B u t the pa rty d id not o r­ganize armed units o f the pea­sants to counterattack. I t le ft i t up to the peasants to organize the ir own defense on the basis of the ir own courage and in itia tive .

When th is developed in to a near revo lu tionary crisis, w ith many clashes between the peasants and the reactionary forces, the cam­paign was stopped. The “ great leader of the revo lu tion” Sukarno had given the order or “ revo lu­tionary command” to stop “ any un ila tera l action.” He gave the “ command” tha t “ every conflic t or d ifference should be solved by consultation and agreement.”

In accordance w ith the appeal from Sukarno in th is situation, A id it proposed the so-called “ N ASAKO M Code of Ethics.” Among other things th is la id down the fo llow ing: “ Among a ll N A S A K O M or M A N IP O LIS T groups there must be no confron­tation. O nly consultation to reach agreement.” * And he specified: “ In the present situation, i f con­flic ts arise between the govern­ment and the people, the only cor­rect w ay to solve them is to reach agreement through consultation .8

Blood had been shed by the people, but the action was stopped. As the slogan pu t it, “ We should have revo lu tionary patience.”

The P K I’s repudiation of the use of armed struggle can be traced back to the beginning of the “ August 1945 Revolution.” 9

D uring the struggle against the Japanese m ilita ry occupation, the P K I was instructed or “ advised,” under S ta lin ’s guidance, to co­operate w ith the Dutch im peria lis t government, to carry out “ jo in t actions” against Japanese im peri­alism. (This also applied to a ll the other Communist parties, who were to ld to cooperate w ith the ir respective bourgeois governments in figh ting against the A x is .) Through such cooperation, the P K I hoped to “ earn” independ­

ence fo r Indonesia at the end of the war. The program of the P K I as w e ll as the CPN [Com m unist P arty of the Netherlands] called fo r an “ independent Indonesia w ith in the Commonwealth o f the Dutch Em pire” as a step toward fu l l independence. This remained a utopian dream. A t the end of the war, the Dutch w ith the back­ing of the B ritish and U.S. im ­perialists sent the ir armed d iv i­sions to reoccupy Indonesia. W hat attitude did the P K I take toward this?

A republic had been proclaimed under the leadership of the bour­geois Sukarno. The masses as a whole were completely ready to defend th e ir new ly proclaimed re­public. B u t the P K I s ti l l clung to the old program of establishing Indonesia “ w ith in the Common­wealth of the Dutch Empire.” Thus they fo llowed the line of compromise in face of Dutch ag­gression. They supported the po li­cy of the reactionary S ja h rir gov­ernm ent in signing the L inggad- ja t i Agreement, compromising w ith Dutch im peria lism in 1947.

Then, s till worse, the fo llow ing government under A m ir S ja r i- fudd in (a P K I leader at the tim e) signed the so-called “ R enville Agreement.” Under th is cata­strophic agreement, a ll pockets of the gue rrilla forces were to w ith -

7 D. N . A id it, The Indonesian Revolu­tion, Its Historical Background and Its Future. Jajasan Pem baruan, Jakarta, 1964. p. 73.8. Ib id . p. 81.9. The arm ed struggle against Japanese occupation and la ter the B ritish and Dutch aggressors is . called the "August 1945 R evolution." I t began w ith the pro­clamation o f the Republic of Indonesia on Aug. 17, 1945.

Mao Tse-tung

draw from Dutch-occupied te r r i­tory. The reactionary forces used th is opportun ity to send in reac­tionary armed units (under the command of Nasution, the present co-d icta tor) to dominate the lib e r­ated areas.

Realizing his mistake, A m ir S ja rifudd in vo lu n ta rily surren­dered his government back to Su­karno. This was followed by the form ation o f the most reactionary government; i.e., the Hatta re ­gime. Under instructions from the U.S. and Dutch im perialists, this government introduced a program of “ ra tiona liz ing” the Indonesian armed forces, w hich meant liq u i­dating the people’s armed units. The Hatta government wanted only “ one type of arm y” ; tha t is, the so-called “ Indonesian National A rm ed Forces.”

In 1948, Musso, who was one of the P K I leaders o f the tw en­ties and th irties , returned from abroad and called fo r a “ New Road” fo r the P K I. Among other things th is demanded renuncia­tion of the old policy of com­promise. The correction was ac­cepted by the m a jo rity of the P K I leaders. B u t i t was too late. Be­fore the P K I could consolidate itse lf under the new program, the reactionary Hatta government launched a “ w h ite te rro r” in the so-called “ M adiun A ffa ir .” Thou­sands of pa rty members and most of the leaders were k illed .

This a ffa ir should have been a salutary lesson fo r the P K I not to abandon the method o f armed struggle. Y e t i t was not.

When a federal republic was

established under the so-called “ Round Table Conference” agree­ment, the P K I held i t best to continue the struggle by “ peace­fu l democratic” means.

A id it explained this as fo llows: “ Against th is RTC agreement w hich was signed on Nov. 2, 1949, by H atta ’s government under in ­structions from U.S. im peria lism , there were tw o opposing v iew ­points in the pa rty . . . the f irs t group wanted to continue armed struggle against the federal repub­lic o f the RTC . . . w h ile the sec­ond, who based the ir position on revo lu tionary theory . . . wanted to m ainta in the p a rty ’s lega lity ” ; tha t is, continue the struggle by “ parliam entary d e m o c r a t i c ” means.*9 Thus was a beginning provided fo r the repetition o f the old errors.

On the question of the “ Indo­nesian N ational A rm ed Forces,” i t is not correct to say tha t they are. not “ lik e the armies o f im peria lis t countries or the arm y of Ind ia .” A t the beginning of the August 1945 Revolution there were no regular armed forces. Throughout the islands, the people formed the ir own armed un its fo r defense against the im peria lis t aggression. There were many kinds of units. “ The P K I b u ilt a Red A rm y, and had big influence on the Las jka r B uruh [W orkers A rm y ], Las jkar Pesindo [A rm y of the Socialist Y ou th ], Las jka r R ak ja t [People’s A rm y ] and Tentara Peladjar [S tu ­dents Corps].” In the process o f struggle, then, a regular arm y was b u ilt. Fo llow ing the program of “ ra tiona lization” under Hatta, most of the irregu la r armies were liqu idated. The most reactionary forces remained. A fte r the RTC Agreement a new “ National A rm ed Forces” was formed. This was an arithm etic combination of the previous Indonesian “ N ational A rm ed Forces” plus the “ Dutch East Indies Troops.” These D utch Troops (o f Indonesian na tiona lity ) were much better tra ined. The remnants of the progressive units w ith in the Indonesian National A rm ed Forces were subsequently liqu idated. O f course, there were s ti l l some “ pro-people’s” elements w ith in the Indonesian National A rm ed Forces. B u t as a whole they belong to the same classifi­cation as the “ armies o f im peria l­ist countries or the arm y of In ­dia.” I t is a great e rro r not to trea t reactionary forces as reac­tionary forces.

10. D . N. A id it, Fo rty Years of the P K Lp. 59.11. Ib id. p. 47.

(To be Continued)

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Page Six TH E M IL IT A N T Monday, October 3, 1966

IN REPLY TO LEVIN

Why Critical Support for Aptheker A Letter from Hal LevinI read w ith interest your endorsement of Herbert Apthe­

ker for Congress in Brooklyn’s 12th C.D. I agree with most of the points made in your article. I also condemn the' Com­munist Party’s support of Johnson in 1964. I myself voted for DeBerry and urged all my friends to do the same. I concur in your argument for the necessity of a withdrawal position and condemn Aptheker’s failure to take this position. I adhere to your view that progressives must work outside the two major parties which accommodate themselves to the interests of the corporate class. I call; for a third party based prim arily on wage earners.

On all the above mentioned positions then I praise the SWP and declare my support of its stands.

I am disappointed however over the fact that in a rather lengthy article supporting Aptheker, The M ilitant did not con­sider i t even relevant to mention that in addition to the two major parties, an Independent Party, representing the most progressive elements of the peace movement, was also waging a race in Brooklyn’s 12th C.D. before the Aptheker race began. I respectfully request a published reply as to why The M ilitant finds a campaign which calls for w ithdrawal and a working man’s party unworthy of discussion with its readers.

H al Levin Independent Party Candidate for Congress, 12th C.D., Brooklyn

By Harry BingWe have focused on the A p­

theker campaign, ra ther than H al Le v in ’s, because we regard A p ­theker’s candidacy as po lit ica lly more im portan t in a ll basic re­spects.

The SWP d id not a rrive at its position o f c ritica l support fo r A ptheker by w eighing his p ro ­gram against Le v in ’s. C erta in ly L e v in ’s stand in favo r o f w ith ­d raw a l of U.S. forces fro m V ie t­nam is a good one and, w ith in the fram ew ork o f the an tiw a r move­ment, provides the basis fo r col­laboration. But, insofar as Le v in ’s congressional b id is concerned, we do not regard i t as meeting cer­ta in key socialist crite ria . As is the case w ith Aptheker, Lev in ’s stated program is basically defec­tive in tha t i t is no t socialist. B u t the fundam ental d ifference between the tw o candidates is tha t A ptheker is the nominee of a working-class po litica l tendency, w h ile Le v in is not. As we w il l a ttem pt to demonstrate, th is is a crucia l question.

A t the outset i t should be un­derstood tha t the SWP is not sup­porting A ptheker because o f his program, w ith the “ c ritica l” pro­viso added because of lim ita tions o r defects in tha t program. The p la in fact is tha t the SWP is g iv ­ing c ritica l support to Aptheker despite his program.

Such a statement may appear contradictory. To understand it, certa in basic considerations must be examined.

The SWP considers its central task the w inn ing o f the w ork ing class and the nation’s oppressed m inorities away from capita list po litics and the bu ild ing o f a mass revo lu tionary socialist pa rty cap­able o f leading the transform a­tion o f Am erican society from capita lism to socialism.

I t is th is central objective w hich shapes a ll o f the pa rty ’s strategy and tactics — inc lud ing such a tactic as c ritica l support to H er­be rt Aptheker.

This revo lu tionary perspective is an in te rnationa lis t one. The SWP proceeds from the premise tha t a s ign ificant revo lu tionary socialist movement in th is coun­t r y can be successfully b u ilt on ly as pa rt o f a w orld-w ide process. The SWP adherence to an in te r­national outlook is ne ither senti­m ental no r idealistic. Such things as the V ietnam w a r make clear tha t the problems o f hum anity can on ly be resolved on an in te r­national basis.

In seeking to w in the organ­ized w ork ing class and the op­pressed m inorities to its rev­o lu tionary socialist program, the SWP is p itted in d irect competi­tion w ith other po litica l tenden­cies w ith in the nationa l and in ­ternationa l w orkers’ movement — tendencies tha t challenge and op­pose th is perspective o f a revo lu­tiona ry transform ation and offer the a lternative o f one or another k in d o f reform ism and po litica l class collaboration.

Viewed in the national and in ­ternational context, the Communist P a rty represents one of the ma­jo r re fo rm is t tendencies w ith in the the workers’ movement.

Some u ltra -le ft critics of the SWP argue tha t the Communist P arty is not a working-class party because i t practices class colla­boration ( “ peaceful coexistence” in te rna tiona lly , support to “ lesser e v il” cap ita lis t politic ians na tiona l-

Aptheker, Levin File Petitions

NEW YO RK — W ith 3,000 signatures required for a bal­lot place, Herbert Aptheker announced that he had filed nominating petitions bearing a total of 10,128 signatures w ith the Board of Elections.

H al Levin, also a candidate in the 12th C.D., filed 3,757 signatures.

ly .) B u t the rea lity is tha t the Communist Party, like the B ritish Labor Party , fo r example, is a working-class tendency. Its origins and roots are in the workers’ movement (inc lud ing its associa­tion w ith a workers state, the USSR). A nd i t is w ork ing class in the decisive sense tha t its per­spective is to w in the hegemony of the w ork ing class fo r its program — its re fo rm is t program.

Viewed superfic ia lly on a na­tiona l scale, the Communist Party may appear as an isolated, unin- flu e n tia l force. Viewed in the con­te x t of the in ternationa l re fo rm ist tendency i t is a pa rt of, th is is c learly not the case. N or can i t be dismissed as ins ign ifican t in th is country when considered in re lation to the other radical w o rk­ing-class po litica l tendencies. This means tha t socialists who take th e ir ideas seriously cannot a f­fo rd to ignore the Communist Party. They must take a po litica l stand in re la tion to it.

CP’s RoleInsistence on this po in t is not

the product, as some may believe, o f “ o ld-left factionalism .” I t flows from an understanding and know l­edge o f w ha t the role o f the Com­m unist P a rty has been and con­tinues to be as w e ll as an under­standing o f w hat the role of the K re m lin bureaucracy (fo r w hich the CP is an abject apologist) has been and continues to be.

Since the tim e when Stalin came to power in the Soviet Union the policies of the Communist parties have led to one te rrib le defeat a fte r another.. We w il l re­count on ly a few o f them here:

In the 1920s in China, the in ­sistence of the CP on m ain­ta in ing an unprinc ip led alliance w ith Chiang Kai-shek opened the door fo r a mass blood bath by tha t counter-revolutionary butcher.

In Germany, in the early 30s, the u ltra - le ft stand o f the CP in branding the Social Democrats as “ social fascists” who could not

said the language o f the law is vague and ambiguous. “ Its th rust,” he said, “ is against the expression of unpopular ideas.”

The c rim ina l syndicalism law was f irs t used against the Indus­tr ia l W orkers of the W orld during the 1920s. The viciousness o f the law lies in its vagueness, m aking a “ crim e” of “ conspiracy” and “ advocacy,” w hich perm its convic­tion and im prisonm ent when no act has been committed.

The Los Angeles d is tr ic t a tto r­ney’s office adm itted tha t i t had an undercover agent w ork ing to get evidence against H arris since last May, the period when there was w ide spread anger in the ghetto over the Deadwyler k illin g .

Deadwyler, a Negro motorist, was k ille d by J. M. Bova, a w h ite policeman who adm itted having a cocked revo lver pushed into-Dead- w y le r’s side. Bova said the f ir in g was accidental and the coroner’s ju ry ru led the death “ accidental homicide.”

The Am erican C iv il L iberties U nion entered the case Sept. 22 when A. L . W irin , A C LU a t­torney, appeared in court w ith Pestana. The attorneys won a re ­duction in bail to $1,500 and H ar­r is was released a fte r posting bail.

W ir in participated in the last c rim ina l syndicalism case in 1937. “ I t is a m atter of the deepest astonishment to me,” he said, “ tha t in 1966, a fte r a lapse of almost 30 years and a v ir tu a l discard o f the act as a basis fo r c rim ina l prose­cution, the present case should be filed .”

be united w ith made i t possible fo r H it le r to march to power w ith ­out a struggle.

In Spain in the mid-30s, the CP opposed a socialist revo lu­tion fo r the sake of a coalition w ith the “ democratic” capitalists, paving the w ay fo r the v ic to ry o f Franco.

D uring W orld W ar I I , the CPs helped s tifle the class struggle in the a llied countries fo r the sake of the alliance w ith S talin.

A t the- end o f the w a r they deliberately sacrificed the pos­s ib ility o f power in France and Ita ly , again fo r the sake o f a coalition w ith the “ democratic” capitalists.

Here in the U.S. in the mid-30s, the CP jo ined w ith the Socialist P a rty in abandoning the basic M arx is t p rinc ip le tha t socialists don’t support capita lis t candidates under any circumstances. W ith th e ir support of Roosevelt they helped liqu idate a prom ising movement fo r independent w o rk ­ing-class po litica l action and have, ever since, engaged in class col­laboration po litics in one fo rm or another. The most recent exam­ple o f th is was th e ir shame-faced bu t real support fo r Lyndon John­son.

In the an tiw ar movement, the CP stubborn ly opposed the demand fo r immediate w ithd raw a l o f U.S. forces from Vietnam on the grounds tha t th is w ould isolate the an tiw a r forces from the lead­ers of SANE, libe ra l capita lis t pol­itic ians and other “ progressive” forces.

Today, the CP gives l ip service to the demand to b ring the GIs home from Vietnam. But, as Hal Lev in correctly notes, th is po in t is not included in A ptheker’s pro­gram.

Continuing E ffortFrom the outset, the SWP has

opposed the false and costly re ­fo rm is t politics o f the Communist Party. Its c ritica l support of A p­theker is a continuing pa rt of tha t e ffo rt.

A l l o f the things tha t are wrong w ith A ptheker’s program ju s tify such a vigorously c ritica l stance. These include such things as his refusal to include socialism in his election p la tfo rm ; his weak posi­tion on V ietnam ; his dodging of the issue o f black power; his silence so fa r on the gubernatoria l race — tha t is, his refusal to state i f he supports the an tiw ar nominee of the SWP as against any o f the pro-war capita lis t can­didates.

Yet, in spite o f a ll this, in one aspect Aptheker’s campaign rep­resents a step in the r ig h t d irec­tion. Regardless of m otivation, the Communist P a rty — a w orking- class pa rty — has entered one of its most prom inent spokesmen in a contest against the capita list Re­publican and Democratic Parties.

I t is certa in ly true tha t the aims o f the Communist P arty in th is p a rticu la r contest are not to fu r ­

the r independent socialist and working-class po litica l action. A p ­theker’s opponents are an u ltra - reactionary Democrat and a Re­publican who doesn’t stand a chance. Thus th$ campaign does not go counter to the general CP orientation toward a “ coalition” w ith libe ra l Democrats. ( I f the Democratic nominee was regard­ed as libera l, i t ’s a safe bet Ap­theker w ould not be in the race.)

B u t i t w ould be a serious mis­take to confuse the aims o f the CP leadership w ith those o f many o f its supporters and those who m ay be attracted by the A ptheker campaign.

Communist CandidateM any CP members and sup­

porters welcome the A ptheker b id no t because they see i t as a w ay of increasing the p a rty ’s in ­fluence in the pu rsu it o f coalition- ism w ith the Democrats, bu t be­cause they w ant to see the pa rty take a more independent stand in the electoral arena. (A t the Com­m unist P a rty Convention last June, Gus H a ll got his greatest ovation when he spoke, dema­gogically in our view, o f the pos­s ib ility o f a CP presidential ticke t In 1968.) A n tiw a r activists m ay be attracted to A ptheker’s campaign precisely because he is a Com­m unist runn ing against the cap­ita lis t parties.

In the case o f the voters in the 12th CD, those w ho cast th e ir bal­lo t fo r A ptheker w il l do so fo r good reasons. They w an t to p ro ­test the w ar, in fla tion , J im Crow and the corruption o f the tw o ma­jo r parties. M any w i l l vote fo r A ptheker because he is an avowed Communist and they w ant to reg­ister th e ir vote fo r socialism.

We are fo r this. Those w ho are genuinely seeking independent, so­c ia lis t po litica l action w il l come to realize they w on’t get i t through the Communist Party. We w ant to help them understand this.

A fu rth e r, im portan t reason fo r extending c ritica l support to A p ­theker is tha t the very fact o f his campaign is a b low against the w itchhunters w ho w ould deny the CP its leg itim ate po litica l rights and w ou ld use th e ir v ic tim iza tion o f tha t pa rty as the groundw ork fo r s tiflin g a ll po litica l dissent.

B u t to repeat, our p rim a ry p u r­pose in urg ing a vote fo r A ptheker is not to promote the ruinous po l­itics o f the Communist P a rty bu t to advance the v ita lly needed con­cept o f independent socialist and working-class po litica l action.

The Black GhettoBy Robert Vernon

35 cent*

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Los Angeles Police Try To Frame Black Radical

By Della RossaLOS ANGELES — A C a lifo rn ia

law on “ crim ina l syndicalism,” w hich was last used 29 years ago to crush a d rive to organize Sacra­mento County ag ricu ltu ra l w o rk ­ers, was resurrected here Sept. 21 by the Los Angeles County grand ju ry to be used against John W. H arris. H a rris is a 22-year-old b lack member of the Progressive Labor Party.

This tim e the police are attem pt­ing to in tim ida te the c iv il rights and an tiw a r movements. B u t the response o f c iv il righ ts and an ti­w a r organizations was immediate and representatives from 15 o f them joined forces w ith in three days to fo rm the John H a rris De­fense Committee.

H arris was charged w ith dis­tr ib u tin g an ti-po lice and p ro -rev -

WE ACCUSEPublished by Berkeley Vietnam

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Includes speeches by: Isaac Deut- schar, Bertrand Russell, I. F. Stone, Mario Savio, Dick Gregory, Charles

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olu tionary leaflets outside the Leonard Deadwyler coroner’s in ­quest. The charge, arrest, and ja ilin g under $15,000 ba il came fou r months later.

The PLP leaflets d istributed by H arris — and others — said, “ Wanted fo r m urder — Parker the cop — in W atts," and “ The Need fo r Revolution” and “ W ant­ed fo r the M urder o f Leonard Deadwyler (a member of the con­centration camp) — Bova the cop (a guard in the concentration cam p)."

H arris was arrested at his home in Venice by six d is tr ic t attorney’s undercover agents who in the pro­cess broke the PLP mimeograph machine, emptied drawers, and took priva te files.

H arris, a fo rm er Mississippi c iv il rights w orker, came here last year and was a student at the U n ive rs ity o f C a liforn ia at Los Angeles. He has been w ork ing as a tru ck d rive r to save money to re tu rn to college. H a rris was raised in B irm ingham , A la., and had firs t-hand experiences w ith police b ru ta lity . He is a fo rm er d irector of the Student N onvio lent Coor-

’ d inating Committee and was ar­rested three times w h ile a c iv il righ ts workers.

The c rim ina l syndicalism statute is a broad ca tch-a ll m aking i t a crime to m erely advocate anything tha t m ight be interpreted as “ un­la w fu l acts o f force and violence to effect po litica l change or changes in industria l ownership or control.”

F rank Pestana, H arris ’ attorney,

Monday, October 3, 1966 TH E M IL IT A N T Page Seven

a tsriJtfih A J ’Aom O w i fisuadsuxA[This column is an open forum

fo r a ll viewpoints on subjects of general interest to our readers. Please keep your letters brief. Where necessary they w il l be abridged. W riters’ in it ia ls w il l be used, names being w ithhe ld unless authorization is given fo r use.]

The Chicago RacistsChicago, I l l .

As an eyewitness to George L in ­coln R ockwell’s Nazi ra llies and march on Chicago’s Southwest side, I can confirm Herm an Por­te r ’s account in The M ilita n t o f Sept. 19 as essentially correct in its facts and conclusions.

However, an inaccuracy crept in to the report of the Marquette P ark ra lly , where Rockwell ad­dressed some 1,500 persons. I re­fe r to the sentence: “ A consider­able section o f the crowd was made up of foreign-born pro­fascist elements who were ready to shout such slogans as ‘K i l l the Jews’.”

The Marquette P ark area and the nearby Gage P ark area were the scene of the most v io len t Ne­gro-baiting neighborhood reaction to the “ open-housing” marches of M a rtin L u the r K ing ’s Chicago Freedom Movement in August. Mobs opposed the marchers w ith stones, bottles, bricks, and d irect attacks; they accepted eagerly from the Nazis banners carry ing the swastika symbol and the words “ W hite Power.”

Rockwell tr ied to capitalize on the racist hysteria w ith his ra lly in M arquette Park. As Porter points out, th is was the high point o f his a c tiv ity in Chicago. The crowd of 1,500 showed no hostil­i ty to the swastika banners and applauded the vicious anti-Negro and anti-Semitic harangues of Rockwell and his lieutenant Pat- le r. They responded to the appeal fo r funds by th rusting b ills at the collectors w earing swastika arm ­bands.

B u t no one in the crowd shouted “ K i l l the Jews,” and i t w ould not be correct to indicate tha t th is was the temper o f the ra lly . A n ti- Semitism was certa in ly present; the Nazis d is tribu ted cartoon books w hich rid icu led Negroes and Jews crudely, and w h ich were accepted and read w ith amusement. B u t the dom inant factor in the crowd’s a ttitude was fear and hatred of the Negro; th e ir shouts were “ W hite Power!”

The race-hating mobs of the Southwest side of Chicago are not consciously pro-fascist at the present tim e. Rockwell’s fa ilu re to draw any s ign ificant num ber in support of h is march to a Negro neighborhood, o r to his downtown Coliseum ra lly shows th a t he has no t won support and loya lty in the disturbed Southwest side com­m unities. The residents have the a ttitude tha t they are defending “ th e ir” neighborhood against Ne­gro invasion, and they are w illin g to listen to anyone, Including the Nazis, who articulates th e ir big­o try and antagonism. The ir un­questioning acceptance of, and re­sponse to the Nazi en try in to the ir com m unity is indeed a dangerous portent.

Observers in the area have pointed out the irony in the fact tha t a large proportion o f the res­idents in these neighborhoods are firs t- and second-generation East Europeans, whose fam ilies have had d irect experience w ith the w eight o f the Nazi boot in Europe.

Two la te r developments are w orth noting:

Rockwell’s Nazis have planned a march through a Jewish neigh­borhood in Chicago. A court in ­junc tion has prevented th is action so fa r. Plans to organize a coun­ter-demonstration in protest have likew ise been held up.

B irch Society elements, who have long been on the scene in the Southwest side neighborhoods, have become very active in or­ganizing “ property owners” groups to oppose the weak compromise a rrived at between the Freedom Movement and the C ity officia ls, banks, and real estate organiza­tions. They castigate the compro­mise as a “ betrayal.” They have been reported successful in draw ­ing enthusiastic audiences num ­bering up to a thousand to the ir rallies.

R. Fo lle tt

Canadian on Fort Hood 3Toronto, Canada

The response to the persecution o f the F o rt Hood Three in the Canadian an tiw ar movement has been one of strong critic ism o f the government w hich is persecuting these brave men, and a solid iden­tifica tio n w th th e ir r ig h t to choose fo r themselves w hether they w il l f ig h t in th is d ir ty war.

W hile we are m ostly concerned w ith stopping Canadian arms shipments to your country, and

w ith po in ting out how Canada ie being used to whitewash U.S. ag­gression through dip lom atic sup­port, we realize how im portan t i t is to jo in hands w ith the soldiers and citizens of the U.S. who have noth ing to gain from the escala­tion o f th is unpopular war.

The tim e w il l come in the near fu tu re when the people o f the U nited States w il l settle accounts w ith the ir belligerent leaders by bu ild ing an anti-V ietnam w ar movement so un ited and so strong tha t no one w il l be able to stop them from te llin g the tru th .

H arry Kopyto

LBJ's ConcernsGlens Falls, N.Y.

President Johnson, i t seems, is concerned about the slaughter of human beings on Am erican high­ways. W ould tha t he was also concerned about the slaughter of human beings in other parts o f the w o rld — Vietnam, fo r instance.

O ur president also cautions against try in g to go “ too fa r and too fast” in lay ing the social w el­fare and educational planks of the Great Society. W ould th a t he m ight also caution against going “ too fa r and too fast” w ith his V ietnam war.

According to a newspaper c lip ­p ing of a w h ile back, President Johnson is said to have said tha t he “ has never known any men in public l ife who w ould pu t the ir pa rty above th e ir country.”

Just because President John­son has never known any such men in pub lic life does not “ mean there aren’t any. Prof. Thomas Bailey o f Stanford U n ive rs ity says tha t the b ru ta l fact is tha t the supreme object o f the po litic ian is to keep his party in power and keep h im self in office.

Ambrose Bierce defined politics as “ the conduct o f public affa irs fo r priva te advantage.”

Macauley, in 1842, said tha t the

Thought for the Week"To be a Snick member in good standing these days, one has

to be simultaneously angered, amused and frustra ted by the society around him. I t also helps i f you are a Negro and can quote a t length from M alcolm X Speaks, a collection of speeches given by the late black nationalist leader in the year preceding his assassination.” — From an artic le about SNCC by Gene Roberts in the Sept. 25 New Y ork Times magazine.

time-serving politic ians “ th in k much more about the security of th e ir seats than about the security o f th e ir country.”

The true po litic ian pays l ip serv­ice to the w elfare o f the nation, bu t he th inks noth ing o f insu lting a fr ie n d ly power i f by doing so he can score a po in t fo r his party o r h im self in the po litica l game.

K.M .G .

Learn and LivePhiladelphia, Pa.

I believe tru e r words were nev­er spoken than the phrase, “ You live and learn.” B u t ye t and s till, I fra n k ly believe i t should have been “ you learn and then you m igh t live .”

The reason fo r emphasizing this is s im ply th a t a gigantic amount o f enthused people, a llow ing themselves to take pa rt in the Freedom Movement, have dealt w ith various kinds o f conflic t, ad­m inistered by a ll k inds of hate groups and racists who deliberate­ly focus th e ir hatred on people who begin to accomplish power, or those who become too active figh ting fo r Freedom, or too ed­ucated in know ing the value of “ B lack H isto ry.”

W ell, the involvem ent o f a few c iv il righ ts groups here in P h ila ­delphia a fte r they began to take on the ro le o f “ B lack Power” and “ B lack U n ity ” is a perfect exam­ple of the in ten t to destroy those who learn the tru th — basically by our racist enemies.

O ur a b ility to create a con­

crete program of “ togetherness and un ity ,” w hich w ould be an upw ard step tow ard Freedom could no t be stomached by the stone-hearted destroyers o f B lack M ankind. We learned from our enemies some things we never conceived could or w ou ld exist in the N orth.

Hunters a ll over the w o rld shoot and k i l l game da ily , b u t there ju s t doesn’t seem to be an end to o r the last o f the animals they k i l l .

In other words, “ They can’t k i l l us a ll.” The movement w il l grow stronger, not weaker, when the racists try to k i l l us off. We live and learn through b igo try o f oth­ers. We absorb teaching o f hate by racists who are unaware tha t the ir teachings to th e ir allies are the keys to B lack M an’s education on how to deal w ith , and w ha t to expect of, o rd inary devils who bomb churches or k i l l women and children, o r com m it p e rju ry and endorse frame-up jobs on innocent people.

The tim e has come fo r a ll c iv il r igh ts groups to un ite and become energetically active and much more m ilitan t. We are struggling fo r the comparable achievements — human d ign ity , human rights, equality, vo ting rights, the r ig h t to reside where we choose, the r ig h t to w ithd raw from an un­just, racia l w a r — a ll adding up to one th ing: Freedom.

Yesterday, m y friends, we lived and learned. Now we m ust use the sk ills we have learned in order to live.

Stanley Vaughan

It Was Reported in the Press

Have You Read?

"Healy 'Reconstructs1 the Fourth International"

Documents and Comments by Partic ipants in a Fiasco, w ith a preface by Joseph Hansen: “ Sectarianism and T inpot Despotism — anExample fo r the Textbooks.”

Some Com m ents:“ So fa r as the treatm ent w h ich the pamphlet meets out to the

representatives of the Socialist Labor League at the In te rnationa l Conference, i t is legally libellous. We shall not hesitate to deal ap­propria te ly w ith the handfu l of U nited Secretariat agents who haw k i t around the cynical fa ke -le ft in England.” — P o litica l Committee o f the SLL, headed by G erry Healy.

“ Hansen’s attack stems from weakness, not strength. I t is .a desperate e ffo rt to d ive rt attention fro m the crisis facing the re v i­sionists.” — Fred M ue lle r in the B u lle tin , edited by T im W ohlforth .

“ The tru th is tha t the S LL is le ft gasping in the face o f the documents. I t can on ly bluster, threaten, conceal and trag ica lly itse lf cross the class lin e by threatening to ca ll the cops.” — The Spartacist, edited by James Robertson.

“ Sales o f the pamphlet are very brisk.” — Pioneer Book Service, 8 Toynbee Street, London, E. 1.

* * *

A devastating — often h igh ly amusing — exposure of w hat rea lly w ent on at a recent in te rna tiona l conference sponsored by the leader­ship of the Socialist Labor League.

For a copy of this 40-page pamphlet, send 35 cents to the Socialist W orkers Party, 873 Broadway. New York, N .Y . 10003.

Great Leader Unhappy — TheSept. 26 Newsweek reported: “ GIs manning L B J ’s trave ling com­m unication center have been to ld to m ind th e ir manners. W hile flashing in fo rm a l messages about the president, i t seems, they have been re fe rring to h im as ‘C lyde’ and ‘the Great Cowboy.’ In fu tu re chitchat, the in fo rm alities w il l be lim ite d to ‘the President’ or ‘the Boss.’ ”

Selective Reporting — T w olengthy articles on the Socialist Scholars Conference held in New Y o rk were published in The W ork­er, voice o f the Communist Party. The tw o articles accomplished the unusual feat of not even mention­ing the princ ipa l speaker at the conference, the noted historian Isaac Deutscher.

The Outside Agitator — Racist authorities in Cleveland have tr ied to establish tha t “ agitators” were responsible fo r the outbreaks in the Hough ghetto th is summer. Now the federal census bureau has reported tha t in 1959, 31 percent o f the fam ilies in the Hough dis­tr ic t lived in poverty. B y 1964 the num ber had shot up to 39 percent.

Think You’ve Heard Every­thing? — “ NEW YO R K — Roger M. Blough, chairman and chief executive of the U nited States Steel Corp., warned against the danger o f the federal government try in g ‘to do too much, too fast” in its an ti-poverty w ar.” — The W all Street Journal.

F all Guys — Three men are on t r ia l fo r selling m ilita ry planes to Portugal in v io la tion o f federal law . The sale was unearthed after the U.S. pub lic ly agreed not to

sell such planes to Portugal be­cause they w ould be used to bomb insurgents in Angola and Mozam­bique. The defense insists tha t the entire operation was organized by Washington through the C IA . They charge the C IA “ spooks” involved vanished from the scene after the sale became public.

Our Pride and Joy — Senator Vance H artke (D -In d .) sought un­successfully to include a proviso fo r c rim ina l penalties in the Se­nate-approved b il l setting certain auto safety standards in new cars.

Senator John Pastore (D -R .I.) who led the opposition to H artke ’s proposal declared: “ We’re no tdealing w ith mobsters and gang­sters. We’re dealing w ith the pride o f the U nited States business w orld .”

The Very End — The Am erican d rive tow ard automated existence received its u ltim a te expression at a New Y ork e xh ib it o f new inven­tions w h ich included a machine w hich reportedly takes the phy­sical e ffo rt out of sex.

—Harry Ring

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Page Eight theMILITANT Monday, October 3, 1966

By A I SolomonNEW YO R K — The boycott of

In term ediate School 201 in East H arlem is a resu lt o f the fact tha t the education of Negro and Puerto Rican ch ildren in the c ity has de-

i te riorated to the po in t tha t pa r­ents in the ghetto have lost a ll confidence in the system’s a b ility to teach th e ir children.; Basically, th is is the cause of the c o n flic t between the parents o f I.S. 201 and the c ity board of educa­tion. As one placard on the picket line read: “ G ive Us a Chance — We Couldn’t Do A n y Worse.” e The background of the present struggle goes back to 1962, when the construction o f the school was f irs t proposed. Parents in the area rejected the proposed site as being impossible to integrate and sug­gested other sites in the w h ite fr inge areas near East Harlem . B u t the board w ent ahead, prom is­ing a separate bu t equal (o r even better) school. The board said i t w ould make the segregated school a qua lity school through unusual fac ilities and cu rricu lum innova­tions.

The parents d idn ’t buy the idea and protested so vigorously that the board was thw arted tw ice in attempts to open the school last spring.

Successful BoycottA t the beginning of th is school

year, the boycott had the solid support of the com m unity and was so successfully organized tha t the board made no attem pt to open the school w h ile negotiations w ent on fo r 10 days. The parents now were demanding com m unity contro l of the school and a Negro p rinc ipa l.

I t should be pointed out that in most communities in the country, inc lud ing many a good deal small­e r than Harlem , the school system is under com m unity control. In Harlem , where racia l d iscrim ina­tion results in in fe rio r, segregated education, there is a cry ing need fo r a voice in school adm inistra­tion by those most concerned —

Lord Russell Urges Step-Up Of Soviet Arms for Vietnam

the parents whose children d irect­ly suffer from segregated educa­tion. B u t H arlem ’s schools are run by the a ll-c ity board o f education, and the demand by Negro and Puerto Rican parents to have a voice in deciding school a ffa irs is attacked as — “ racism in reverse.”

A fte r negotiations, the parents seemed to have won the ir de­mands. D r. Bernard Donovan, su­perintendent o f schools, agreed to a measure of com m unity control and agreed tha t a Negro princ ipa l acceptable to the parents w ould adm inister the school. A t th is point, however, a squeeze p lay by Donovan and the U nited Federa­tion o f Teachers against the par­ents took place.

The M achiavellian game was played out to perfection. The w hite p rinc ipa l “ resigned” and a Negro assistant p rinc ipa l was appointed on a tem porary basis. The assist­ant princ ipa l refused the appoint­ment and the w h ite p rinc ipa l re ­tracted his “ resignation” at the demand of the Negro and w hite union teachers of the school. The union had been putting, pressure on behind the scenes. A lbe rt Shanker, president o f the union, and the union leadership had aroused the membership against the idea of parent contro l and selection of the principa l.

The role o f the U FT was the most damaging in the entire a f­fa ir. The enemy o f the teachers is the adm inistration, not the par­ents. The union excludes p r in ­cipals from membership fo r the simple reason tha t the p rin c i- cipals are notoriously anti-un ion and represent the adm inistration against the teachers. The parents are the na tura l allies of the teach­ers — both are interested in bet­te r facilities, w ork ing conditions, etc.

The parents are s ti l l p icketing the school in an attem pt to sal­vage whatever they can o f the v ic to ry tha t was w ith in the ir grasp.

[A sharp debate recently flared up among French intellectuals when Jean-Paul Sartre, the w ell- known playw right and Existen­tialist philosopher, advocated that the Soviet Union come to the aid of north Vietnam w ith more ef­fective m aterial means.

[This proposal was attacked as a “provocation” by such sources as l ’Humanitd, the official news­paper of the French Communist Party.

[A proposal sim ilar to Sartre’s, made by Bertrand Russell in the form of a letter to Prem ier Kosy­gin July 20, met w ith comparable criticism from columnist Francis Flavius in the Aug. 26 issue of the London Tribune. Bertrand Russell replied in the Sept. 2 issue. The following is the attack levelled by Francis Flavius together w ith Bertrand Russell’s reply.]

Flavius Scores RussellI have the utmost respect fo r

Bertrand Russell and his views, bu t I was shocked and amazed by the le tte r w hich he sent to the Soviet Prem ier M r. Kosygin, on the subject of Vietnam, urg ing the Russians to send the Soviet A ir Force to defend north Vietnamese cities from the vicious American a ir attacks.

Does not the man who request­ed both Kennedy and Khrushchev to draw back from the b rin k over Cuba know w hat th is could mean? I t could spell out the firs t actions which w ould be the start of W orld W ar I I I? Does he want that?

Prem ier Kosygin replied [Aug. 2] to Bertrand Russell in the most moderate of terms, po in ting out tha t the Soviet Union has done everyth ing to avoid a dangerous escalation of the war, bu t con­demning the Am erican action in no uncertain terms.

B u t w hy should Russell want something to occur in V ietnam which he rejected so vociferously in Cuba? I t is surely a piece of muddled th ink ing. O r w hy did he not w rite to the Prim e M in is te r of China and ask his reasons fo r not using the Chinese A ir Force to de­fend the north Vietnamese cities? Indeed the Chinese Government itse lf has blamed the Russians fo r not sending more aid to north Vietnam, w h ile at the same tim e m aking i t d iff ic u lt fo r the Rus­sians to send such aid through to Hanoi.

W hat is even sadder about the whole business o f Bertrand Rus­sell’s le tte r was that i t was he who so c learly spelled out the dangers which nuclear strategy brought to the w orld . A small w ar could easi­ly become the start o f a large nu­clear conflict, the very th ing that Russell and his supporters have been so vigorously combating.

Bertrand Russell RepliesFrancis F lavius [ Tribune, Aug.

26] is c ritica l o f m y cable to Prem ier Kosygin, w hich he ap­parently has not read.' I asked the Prem ier to tu rn part o f the Soviet a ir force over to the Vietnamese fo r the purpose of defending the te rr ito ry of V ietnam against the unre lenting a ir bombardment of the United States.

The issue w hich Francis F lavius chooses to raise is tha t of in ­creasing the dangers of W orld W ar I I I and he compares m y ap­peal to Kosygin w ith m y request to Khrushchev and Kennedy to d raw back from confrontation over Cuba.

The fundamental problem in both crises has been how is this

Bertrand Russell

w orld w ar to be averted w ithou t sacrific ing the rights o f the op­pressed people whose social rev­olution was under such vicious at­tack by the United States. I am in no doubt tha t had the Soviet Union made clear at the tim e of the Bay of Tonkin that the Soviet a ir force w ould defend V ietnam against a ir attack, that a ir attack w ould not have occurred.

The vast bombardment of a small people w ithou t an a ir force is the supreme a troc ity and i t is too te rrib le fo r supposed allies to a llow such destruction to be rained on an heroic people, p ittin g the ir revo lu tionary s p ir it against the ev il and gigantic power of the largest m ilita ry arsenal possessed by any nation in the h istory of warfare. Thus, on grounds of ele­mentary m ora lity , there is an ab­solute obligation incumbent upon the Soviet Union, w hich has the means to accomplish adequately the defense of V ietnam against a ir attack.

Escalation by StepsI should po in t out to Francis

F lavius that every piece of ev i­dence we have about the w ar in Vietnam shows tha t the United States tests the w ater before plunging in. The Bay o f Tonkin incident was faked, preparatory to fu ll-sca le bombardment of the north. W orld reaction was ob­served in between time. A n in ­cident invo lv ing poison gas took place before the massive and in ­discrim inate use o f the gas was undertaken. A ir strikes on the periphery o f Hanoi and Haiphong were performed before d irect

strikes on these cities were risked. In a ll these instances, the pattern is that o f H it le r ’s in the Rhine­land and in Czechoslovakia.

Those who are anxious to pre­vent w orld w ar w ithou t betraying the Vietnamese revo lu tion must consider how th is is rea lly to be done. I t is too easy to say any defense o f the Vietnamese is a provocation to the b u lly and the aggressor. On the contrary, unless the Soviet Union intervenes now w ith its a ir force to protect V ie t­nam, American im peria lism w il l extend the scale of the w a r out­side V ietnam precisely as i t has w ith in Vietnam. The Soviet Union w il l then be obliged to intervene on a massive scale or to pe rm it the United States to ca rry on in its aggression. The lesson of appease­ment is tha t noth ing is gained by delay. In fact, delay makes more like ly the larger con flic t later.

Danger IncreasesThe Soviet a ir 'fo rc e over V ie t­

nam is c learly a defensive action restric ting the con flic t to the bord­ers of V ietnam, bu t when Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and China are attacked the problem o f the So­v ie t Union w il l be vastly more serious. I t is precisely because the confrontation over Cuba occurred at the penultim ate moment tha t nuclear w a r was so im m inent. I t is precisely because tha t penu lti­mate moment w il l be more lik e ly to occur tha t the Soviet Union is asked to act now, the better to avoid having the penultim ate mo­ment the only moment when i t is possible to intervene.

Francis F lavius advances the of­fic ia l Soviet v iew regarding China’s unw illingness to le t Soviet m ilita ry equipment and personnel pass through its te rrito ry . The Russians have been asked to say that an attack on China w ould be an attack on the Soviet Union. They decline to do this. The im ­plications o f such a refusal when combined w ith the request tha t Chinese te rr ito ry should be so used is clear.

Francis F lavius is late in sup­porting the Vietnamese, fo r he has been occupied, in the pages of Tribune, w ith pressing on them formulas fo r negotiations w h ich w ould ra t ify the Am erican aggres­sion and the presence of American troops in V ietnam . I f a w orld w ar is to be avoided, universal defense of the Vietnamese is the f irs t pre­requisite. S itting on one’s hands w h ile the Americans do the ir worst is the surest w ay to b ring the w o rld to the po in t o f no re­turn , the po in t at w hich Cuba was in 1962.

Tribunal on Vietnam War Crimes Barred from France by De Gaulle

De Gaulle has been reaping a good deal of p u b lic ity pu tting up a show of “ independence” in re la­tion to Washington and its d ir ty colonial w a r in Vietnam. He nevertheless knows how to make a cheap concession aimed at pleas­ing the W hite House. On Sept. 19, the Paris correspondent o f the New Y ork Times reported tha t “ On one po in t France wants no fu rth e r aggravation of relations w ith the United States. This is the ‘in ternationa l w ar crimes tr ib u n a l’ tha t Bertrand Russell, the B ritish philosopher, has been organizing to decide whether the United States and its ranking offic ia ls are g u ilty of a crim e against hum anity. The announced meeting place was Paris. The French Gov­

ernm ent does not w an t i t here, and presumably has the power to prevent i t . ”

I t is possible tha t the State De­partm ent hinted to the French tha t a ban w ould be w e ll received. The tr ib u n a l is headed by such figures as Simone de Beauvoir, Jean- Paul Sartre, Isaac Deutscher and Lazaro Cardenas. Its hearings can prove h igh ly embarrassing to Johnson, Rusk and McNamara.

On Aug. 28 the Bertrand Rus­sell Peace Foundation announced tha t a le tte r had been sent to President Johnson requesting his appearance at the hearings o f the tr ibuna l “ in your own defense.”

Another site fo r the tr ibuna l is under consideration. According to the Times i t may be held in Sweden.

Calif. SWP Slate Hits Brown And Reagan on Vietnam War

Harlem Parents Press For Voice on Schools

LOS ANGELES — The C a li­fo rn ia Socialist W orkers Party has announced tha t i t is runn ing a w rite - in slate in the coming gubernatoria l elections. The SWP has nominated A lle n Tap lin fo r Governor and Louis Cobet fo r L t. Governor.

Tap lin pointed out tha t the “ same argument is being used to support in c u m b e n t Governor B row n against Ronald Reagan as was used to support Johnson against Goldwater. That argument states tha t labor and the Negro people should ‘stop Reagan’ by vo ting fo r the ‘lesser e v il’ B row n. B u t both Reagan and B row n are fo r the V ietnam w ar, both rep­resent and defend the system w hich exploits labor and keeps the black people oppressed.

“ The parties of capitalism must be opposed, and Louis Cobet and I are the only an tiw ar and an ti­capita lis t candidates running against B row n and Reagan. We w i l l use* our carr :.aign to advance the idea o f independent b lack pol­itica l action against the capita list parties, and the need fo r a labor party.

“ The SWP campaign,” Tap lin said, “ w il l concentrate on the issue o f the w ar in Vietnam. We believe tha t a ll U.S. m ilita ry forces should be w ithd raw n un ila te ra lly im ­mediately.

“ The w a r in V ietnam is cruel and unjust. Hundreds of thousands

A llen T ap lin

of U .S . soldiers and 'b i l ­lions o f do lla r- are being com m it­ted to th is im m ora l and s v il war. The w ork ing people of th is coun­try arc expected to pay fo r th is dangerous m ilita ry adventure through in fla tion and h igher taxes. The g iant monopoly corporations, in the meantime, rake in huge p ro fits from w a r orders. This w ar m ust be stopped now !”

A llen T ap lin w il l discuss the C a liforn ia elections at the M ilita n t Labor Forum on Friday, Oct. 7, a t 8 p.m. The fo rum w il l be held at 1702 East Fourth Street, Los Angeles.