The inability of the government to administer justice was discussed in the newsletter of June 15, and July 1.  The other functions are also under attack.

            The increase of street violence and the resort of citizens to locks, dogs and guns to protect them and their families illustrates the failure of the authorities to provide adequate protection against internal violence.

            The right of the government to provide security against external enemies is now being challenged while the ability of the government in this area is being undermined.  This is illustrated by the case of the so-called “Pentagon papers.”  Many allege that an individual has the right to steal secret papers from the government because his conscience tells him to do so, and that the newspapers have the right to accept such stolen papers and to publish whatever selected parts they choose with their own interpretation.

            We live in a dangerous and violence-prone world. Groups of men are fighting other groups in many if not most nations and hovering over all is the thermonuclear bomb.  Communists may quarrel among themselves, but they are working ceaselessly to increase their military power, and they announce that any apparent friendliness towards capitalist countries is a device to give them time to rally their forces for the final destruction of “imperialism.”        

            In this dangerous situation, the government must be able to communicate with other nations.  This is impossible unless other nations are convinced that such communications will be confidential.  The theft and publication of secret communications deals a deadly blow to the authority of the government to conduct foreign policy through frank diplomatic exchanges.

            The news media justify their publication of secret documents in the name of “freedom of the press.”  Their argument would be more impressive if they practiced the same standards of frank revelation of the sources of their information that they demand the government practice.  In this area, there is an obvious double standard.  They demand that the government make public the raw material used to formulate official policy.  Simultaneously they fight frenziedly to have the right to keep their own sources of information secret.  This is illustrated by the present situation involving CBS and its president.  CBS presented a television program, “The Selling of the Pentagon.”  A committee of Congress has requested the raw film from which they selected the film shown on T.V.  The president of CBS, Frank Stanton, has refused to supply Congress with this information.  The committee has voted to indict him for contempt of Congress.

            The news media are enormously powerful.  They mold public opinion and can make or break a government.  They can and do destroy the ability of the government to conduct foreign policy.  They have a legitimate function to criticize and expose the failures and excesses of government.  The question is, however, “Who can criticize and expose the excesses and failures of the news media when many newspapers and broadcast networks exercise a virtual monopoly and are controlled by a handful of biased men without real responsibility?”

THE REWARDS OF PING-PONG DIPLOMACY

            The dividends reaped by the Chinese Communists from their ping-pong diplomacy are enormous.  A state of blissful euphoria seems to characterize influential segments of the pre and powerful politicians.  Newsmen and political leaders are flocking to Red China along the trail blazed by the ping-pong team.  It is assumed that the bitter hostility of the Chinese Communists towards the “imperialist” West has dissipated and that a long honeymoon of cooperation in trade and international affairs lies ahead.

            Those indulging in these delightful dreams should read the Peking Review of July 2, 1971.  The entire issue is devoted to the strategy that will assure the final destruction of U.S. “imperialism.”  A few quotations merit consideration:

            “Marxism-Leninism holds that the fundamental question of revolution is political power and that the seizure of power by armed force is the central task and the highest form of revolution.  This is the universal truth of Marxism-Leninism.  Whoever denies this or admits it in words but denies it in deeds is not a genuine Marxist-Leninist.”  Page 6.

            “Mao Tse-tung laid down the principle of fighting by concentrating a superior force to destroy the enemy forces one by one.”  Page 11.

            “We are living in the era in which imperialism is heading for total collapse and socialism is advancing to worldwide victory.  Compared with the days when the Chinese Communist Party was born 50 years ago, the revolutionary situation throughout the world today is excellent; it is better than ever before.  The final destruction of imperialism, revisionism and the reactionaries is not far off.”  Page 21.

            The Peking Review publishes this translated editorial from the communist Peoples Daily:

“Asian People’s Struggle Against U.S. Imperialist Aggression Is Bound To Win

            “June 25 is an unforgettable day for the Asian peoples.  On this day 21 years ago, U.S. imperialism flagranty unleashed the war of aggression against Korea, and two days later, perfidiously occupied China’s territory Taiwan Province by force in a frantic attempt to annex the whole of Korea at one stroke and then invade China’s mainland so as to rule supreme in Asia.  This naked act of piracy by U.S. imperialism clearly showed that it is the most ferocious enemy of the people of Asia and the whole world.

            “Twenty-one years ago, under the leadership of the Workers’ Party of Korea headed by the great leader Comrade Kim II Sung, the Korean people rose to resist the U.S. aggressors with dauntless heroism and began their great Fatherland Liberation War.  After that, the Chinese people, following the great leader Chairman Mao’s teaching on resisting U.S. aggression and aiding Korea, protecting our homes and defending our motherland, organized the Chinese People’s Volunteers who rushed to the Korean battlefield and fought shoulder to shoulder with the Korean people.  After three years of bloody fighting, the Korean and Chinese peoples eventually defeated the once proud and arrogant U.S. imperialism.  As Chairman Mao pointed out: ‘All reactionaries are paper tigers.  In appearance, the reactionaries are terrifying, but in reality they are not so powerful.’  The iron fists of the Korean and Chinese peoples punched more holes in this paper tiger, U.S. imperialism, knocked the arrogance out of it, and tremendously encouraged the oppressed nations and oppressed peoples of Asia and the whole world in their liberation struggle.

            “Aggressive by nature, U.S. imperialism, however, was not reconciled to its defeat.  Since the Korean armistice, it has continued to frantically pursue its policies of aggression and war in Asia.  It has obdurately clung to the southern part of Korea and turned south Korea into its colony and military base.  It has done its utmost to strengthen and expand the Pak Jung Hi clique’s puppet troops and carried out incessant military provocations against the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, waiting for the chance to set off a new war of aggression.  The heroic Korean people have always been on the alert against the aggressive scheme of U.S. imperialism and waged a tit-for-tat struggle against it.  The Korean People’s Army has captured the spy ship Pueblo, shot down spy planes, smashed armed provocations by the U.S.-Pak clique and dealt the U.S. aggressors powerful blows.  The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea has become an impregnable fortress standing rock-firm at the anti-U.S. imperialist front in East Asia.

            “To this day, U.S. imperialism still occupies China’s Taiwan Province, subjecting our 14 million compatriots there to colonial oppression and enslavement.  It has even brazenly come out with the nonsense that sovereignty over Taiwan is “unsettled” and stepped up its plot of the so-called “two Chinas” and “one China and one Taiwan,” in an effort to sever Taiwan from China.  Taiwan is an inseparable part of China’s sacred territory and the Chinese people are determined to liberate it.  Any scheme to prevent the Chinese people from liberating Taiwan is doomed to complete failure.

            “After unleashing the war of aggression against Korea and occupying China’s Taiwan Province, the U.S. imperialists barged into Indochina and launched aggression there, slaughtering the Vietnamese and Lao peoples.  Unable to win in Viet Nam and Laos, they sent troops to invade Cambodia and spread the flames of war to the whole of Indochina.  But the raging fires of the war against U.S. aggression and for national salvation by the people of the three countries in Indochina are burning higher and higher, throwing the U.S. aggressors into an unprecedented dilemma.  U.S. imperialism’s defeat on the Indochina battlefield is the biggest it has suffered since its war of aggression against Korea.

            “What deserves attention is that U.S. imperialism is currently making more use of revived Japanese militarism as the shock brigade in its aggression in Asia.  On their part, the Japanese reactionaries are full of unbridled ambitions and are trying to renew their old dream of the “Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere.”  The publication of the Japan-U.S. joint communiqué and the unlimited extension of the Japan-U.S. ‘security treaty’ have led to the formation of a more aggressive Japan-U.S. military alliance which points its spearhead against the Korean people, the Chinese people and other Asian peoples.  The so-called Okinawa ‘reversion’ agreement signed by the U.S.-Japanese reactionaries not long ago has pushed military collusion between them up a notch.  Conniving with and instigated by U.S. imperialism, the Japanese reactionaries have increased their collusion with the Pak Jung Hi puppet clique and the Chiang Kai-shek gang and infiltrated their aggressive forces into south Korea and China’s territory Taiwan Province.  Such hostile conspiratorial activities by the U.S.-Japanese reactionaries against the Asian people have aroused vehement opposition from the people of Korea, China, Japan and other Asian countries.

            “We must warn U.S. imperialism and its lackeys that if they dare to provoke a new war of aggression in Asia, only a more disastrous defeat awaits them.  Just as Comrade Kim II Sung has pointed out: ‘If the U.S. imperialists and the Japanese militarists dare jump into a new adventurous war of aggression, ignoring the lessons of history and the stark reality of today, they will come to a miserable end never to revive.’

            “China and Korea are neighbouring states linked by the same mountains and rivers, and are as close to each other as the lips and teeth.  The Chinese and Korean peoples are comrades-in-arms going through thick and thin together and sharing weal and woe.  The revolutionary friendship between the Chinese and Korean peoples is based on Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism and has undergone severe stormy tests.  It is unbreakable.  The Chinese people will, as always, continue to united as one with the fraternal Korean people and fight our common enemy to the end.”  (“Renmin Ribao” editorial, June 25)  Peking Review, July 2, 1971, pages 26 and 27.

WHAT ABOUT ALGERIA?

By Gus Hall, General Secretary, Communist Party U.S.A.

            (Editor:  The communists and left-wing radicals constantly complain about the treatment they receive from the “establishment.”  In actuality, they enjoy liberties and privileges inconceivable to those who live under a communist or radical left-wing government.

            When one left-wing sect attains power in a country, it usually persecutes and tries to exterminate all other left-wing organizations.  Apparently this is happening in Algeria and the situation has called forth this agonized lament by Gus Hall, General Secretary of the Communist Party, U.S.A.)

            There is a growing uneasiness about some developments in Algeria.  Increasingly I am asked the question: What about Algeria?  This concern is shown and the questions are asked by those who are supporters and partisans of the Algerian Revolution.

            There is good reason for this concern.  Algeria remains one of the cardinal bases in the struggle against world imperialism.  What happens there greatly affects the balance of world forces in the struggle.  The victorious struggle of the Algerian people against French colonial rule was one of the great historic events that sent revolutionary shock waves around the world.  Since the victory for political independence, progressive and socialist partisans throughout the world have hailed every forward step including the nationalization of industries and other actions that have cleared the path for a socialist direction in Algeria.

            Now, however, there are some developments that are disturbing to say the least.  They are disturbing because these developments threaten to reverse the course Algeria has been following.

            What are the developments that are disturbing?  Within Algeria there has emerged a strong reactionary rightwing force.  It has become very active—both openly and beneath the surface.  It is well organized.  It has a small storm-trooper-like force that leads a campaign of terror against Communists and other left and progressive forces.  It is a campaign against the staunchest supporters of the Algerian revolution.  It also operates from posts within the Boumedienne government.

            The right-wing forces are conducting a brutal campaign of terror without authority.  During the past weeks the arrests, illegal kidnapping and systematic torture of political prisoners and the general harassment have greatly escalated.  It is common knowledge that for more than two months Khaled Benmouffok, the General Secretary of the Leather Workers Union, Belmadani and Lakhdar Cherfaoui, all of them very active trade unionists, have been detained and still are in the hands of the torturers.  In fact, torture has become a rule practices against members of the Communist Party and other left and progressive people who are arrested.

            The right-wing campaign has lately expanded to include a McCarthyite inquisition and hunt for suspected Communists in the government apparatus, in trade unions and other mass organizations.  The weapon is anti-Communism but the target includes the left, the progressives and other advanced revolutionary forces.

            There has surfaced an open anti-Communist campaign by some leading Algerian government figures.  This has appeared in the speeches of people like Kaid Aheed, a leader of the National Liberation Front; Ahmed Taled, the Minister of Education, and in the speeches of M. Kassim and C. Mekki, who are specializing in anti-Soviet slanders.

            These developments are in contradiction to the direction of the Algerian revolution.  They present a serious challenge to all progressive forces, including the people around President Boumedienne.—Daily World, July 3, 1971, M-2

THE WASHINGTON D.C. ANTISUBVERSIVE SEMINAR

            A delegation from the University of Northern Iowa attended the Washington D.C. Antisubversive Seminar.  Their energy and endurance is shown by the fact that following the intense intellectual concentration of the seminar, which finished on June 21, they drove over 1,000 miles back to Cedar Falls, Iowa and produced a special seminar edition of the university newspaper, the Northern Iowan, for Friday, June 25, 1971.  It was a remarkable achievement, and my admiration for the man primarily responsible, Craig Chilton, is unbounded.

            Craig attended the Washington D. C. Antisubversive Seminar in June, 1970.  When he became columnist and editor for the Northern Iowan student newspaper, he organized a delegation from the University to attend the seminar.

            This delegation was not ideologically homogenous. One of its members was John Delafield, who is an activist in the Peace Action Coalition, and who came to write an alternate view to that of Craig Chilton for the newspaper.  John told me that he found the seminar much more objective than he had anticipated and that he would find it difficult to present an unfavorable report.  Both Craig and John wrote articles on the seminar which include the following:

“Reflections on the Seminar

By Craig Chilton

            “The most important objective of the journey to Washington was the Antisubversive Seminar, which is held annually at the Hotel Sonesta by the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade (which is based in Long Beach, California).

            “The purpose of the seminar is to educate people with regard to the nature of Communism, and its inherent evils.  Full scholarships are granted to students (over 16), teachers, police officers, and clergymen.  The UNI Delegation was given the chance to use up to 25 of these, and before it was riddled with last-minute cancellations, the delegation actually numbered 23!

            “A full scholarship covers the tuition fee of twenty dollars, and provides an additional forty dollars in cash with which to pay the cost of hotel room and meals.

            “The seminar schedule combines lectures with films and panel discussions.  One hour of every afternoon is given to seminar students as time during which they may make ‘3-minute speeches’ on any subject they choose.  The majority speak on subjects that relate to the content of the Seminar, but this is not a requirement.

“Speeches by Students

            “If a student wishes to speak, he signs up for the day he wants, and then plans his talk.  When the speech is given, it is followed by comments on style, delivery, effectiveness, and content, by Dr. Fred C. Schwarz, President of the C.A.C.C., and by other members of the Seminar faculty present at the time.

            “These speeches have grown so rapidly in their popularity that every hour of every day, with the exception of the first day, is filled!

            “One-third of the UNI Delegation made speeches.  Craig Chilton spoke on Saturday afternoon and told the story of the UNI Delegation, from its beginning in early May.  John Delafield spoke on Sunday afternoon (this speech is reprinted in this paper).  Larry Novotny was one of the last speakers on Monday, speaking on social democracy within minutes of the end of the seminar.

“Seminar Faculty

            “The seminar student could not ask for a more knowledgable or better-qualified staff!  Dr. Fred C. Schwarz, founder of the C.A.C.C. about 20 years ago, is known and recognized throughout the world as an expert on the subject of Communism. He is quick to accept public debate with Communists in public.  In such debates he proves himself exceedingly sharp, and witty as he cuts his opponents into little pieces.  To listen to Dr. Schwarz as he lectures before the seminar audience is never to be bored!  Few people could explain the concepts of Marxism, Leninism, and dialectical materialism without losing their audience within minutes of starting.  But Dr. Schwarz has the rare talent and ability to explain these difficult concepts so they can be easily understood by all, while at the same time retaining the attention of everyone.

“Herbert Philbrick

            “Another most distinguished member of the staff is Herbert Philbrick, whose life as a counterspy for the FBI was portrayed on television several years ago under the same title as Philbrick’s book, I Led Three Lives.

            “For nine years, Philbrick led three lives: 1. Private citizen, 2. Counterspy for the FBI, and 3. Communist Party  Member.  He credits his ability to go for such a long time undiscovered to the Communists, themselves, so thoroughly do they train their members to work undercover.

            “Philbrick gave two lectures dealing with his life as a counterspy, thereby revealing much about the inner workings of the Communist party cells within America, and their use of ‘front’ organizations.  These front organizations, which may or may not (from case to case) be actually established at the outset by the Communists, provide the main sources of income for Communist activities.  The Communists are so subtle, that very often well-known people and VIP’s will be associated with a Communist front organization, and not even be aware of it; indeed, even deny vehemently that such a thing could even be possible if actually confronted with the evidence!

            “The audience sits spellbound, not wanting to miss a word, when Philbrick speaks.  He makes every word significant, and as the story of his life as a counterspy unfolds, the listener can almost feel himself in each situation presented.  I shall be most surprised if Herbert Philbrick ever completes a speech or lecture without receiving a standing ovation – and I doubt that this will ever happen!

“Sunday Morning

            “Looking back on it, Sunday is a day that I would do just as well not thinking about, personally, since on Saturday night this reported came down with the flu, and by Sunday morning it was a full-blown case.

            “On the way up the elevator, I met Dr. Schwarz, who told me that the seminar staff included a currently practicing medical doctor.  A quick call to him yielded a package of penicillin tablets a short time later, at a charge of only a dollar (his own cost).  These pills completely disposed of the flu within 10 hours!  Just a small but significant example of the true Christianity practiced by the members of the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade.”

“The Antisubversive Seminar—An Alternate View

By John Delafield

            “This ‘Anti-Subversive Seminar’ was sponsored by the ‘Christian Anti-Communist Crusade,’ yet there was very little Christian teaching involved during the entire four day period.  The exception was a short benediction at the beginning of each session.  I was left with the impression that Dr. Schwarz use the Christian prefix to his Anti-Communism Crusade in order to secure funds from either churches or individual Christians.

            “The fact that this thing was sponsored by the Christian Anti-Communism Crusade was part of my reason for going (I wanted to see first-hand how they would associated Christianity and Anti-Communism).  The other reason was to provide an alternate view of the seminar, (the other writing being done by Craig Chilton). Frankly speaking, if someone had told me two months ago (while our Peace Action Coalition was organizing for the nonviolent April 24^th peace demonstration in Washington, D.C.) that I would be attending an ‘Anti-Subversive Seminar,’ and meeting Sen. Jack Miller and Rep. H. R. Gross, I would have laughed in his stomach.  These are among the men I am most displeased with in the federal government.  I’m least displeased with men like Ralph Nader, and Senators Hughes, McGovern, and Fullbright.

            “However, I am super-abundantly pleased with Jeasus Christ, who transcends politics so beautifully.  While at the same time He leaves no doubt in a man’s mind and heart concerning the ways he ought to think and act while he is here.  I really wanted to see how Christian concepts would be applied in this seminar, but unfortunately for all of us there, they were largely neglected.  I happen to think that some Christian teaching and certain socialist ideas are compatible, so I was looking for interaction with other Christians.

            “To give you an idea of the sort of thing that went on there I’ll list the titles of the lectures and films that we heard and saw: ‘My Latvia,’ ‘Marxism,’ ‘Republic of Apathy,’ ‘Communism and Youth,’ ‘Communism, Castro, and Cuba,’ ‘What is Communism?,’ ‘The Truth About Communism,’ ‘Leninism,’ ‘Constitutional issues involved in Anti-Subversive Legislation,’ ‘Communism in the Caribbean,’ ‘I Led Three Lives (for the FBI),’ ‘Anarchism,’ ‘Communism on Campus,’ ‘Anti-Semitism from the Left,’ ‘Red China and the U.N.,’ Marcuse and politics of Sex,’ ‘The Ultimate Weapon,’ ‘Dialectical Materialism,’ ‘The Presidential Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. . . Magna Carta for the Pornographer,’ and ‘Teaching Communism in the Schools.’

            “Of the nine lecturers, I thought two presented their material in an objective manner.  These two people were Dr. Schwarz, and a young exile from Haiti named Raymond Joseph, (who Papa Doc Duvalier had under death sentence.  Duvalier was not a communist however, he was a right-wing dictator).  Schwarz explored the strong points of Marxist philosophy as well as its weak points.  He did pile up the weak points at the end of his lectures, which is definitely the wise thing to do at an Anti-Communism rally.  Both Schwarz and Joseph were thoroughly disgusted with the tyrannical and totalitarian nature of Russian Communism, and I sympathize with them entirely.  Also the centralized power structure introduced by Lenin was successfully attacked by Schwarz.

            “Walter Judd spoke on ‘Red China and the U.N.’ He argued that the Chinese were using deception as a strategy to get the U.S. to restore communications and trade, and to help them to get into the U.N.  He thought Chou En-Lai was simple a good con man.  When he mentioned the New York Times and the Washington Post, boos and laughter were heard in the audience.

            “For the duration of the seminar it was odd, I thought that there was no criticism of the United State’s foreign or domestic policies, or of our government’s priorities.  Nobody spoke to the problem or racism, for instance, or of those recent Pentagon reports which revealed the truth about our premises for getting into the ‘Viet Nom conflict.’

            “That was the way it was, at the Washington D.C. Anti-Subversive Seminar.”