HE reckless actions of the American Government in
Vietnam have brought the world to the brink of nuclear war. The probable results are so awful that people will not face them and will not admit that they are probable. American policy maintains that the extinction of the human race would be a smaller misfortune than the permission of freedom to South Vietnam. This position is one which cannot be soberly maintained.
If we survive, Vietnam will not be the last crisis. The . main conflict in the world is now between American power ° (with the backing of lesser Western governments) and nationalism in the Third World and China. Until the U.S. Government—and especially the military and the C.1.A.— are prepared to abandon the doctrine of counter-revolution and come to terms with demands for genuine political and economic independence, the world will stagger from one crisis to another. Until the British people are prepared to oppose and overthrow governments which support chemical and napalm warfare, the U.S. will continue to rely on Britain in its policies of extermination.
In a recent cable from Hanoi, President Ho Chi Minh has informed me of the tragic results of American bombing of his country. Women and children have been slaughtered daily, houses and villages wiped out. This is the reality behind press reports of America’s efforts on behalf of the “Free World”.
I call upon people throughout Britain to act for peace and put an end to our government’s support for atrocities in Vietnam.