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Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 24, No. 13. 1961.

We shall have War..

We shall have War...

It Is About Time that the West took the initiative and retaliate the aggression of the Russians. Dr. Adenauer spoke of economic and psychological" retaliation: But this is not enough. What is needed is physical retaliation—retaliation in terms of machine-guns, guided missiles and atomic bombs. Bomb-marchers, probably sat up in horror as soon as they read this; we cannot be so callous, we must tackle world problems in a civilised way, they say; humanity must be preserved—there must be no war. After all, they say, "the Communists 'want peace and happiness, they are human beings like us. But what pacifists fail to grasp is that the Communists are not human, they do not want peace and happiness—because they do not know what peace and happiness is. They have everything to gain, and nothing to lose by starting a war: this applies particularly to the Russians and the Red Chinese.

It is my belief, and the recent actions by the Russians over East Berlin strengthen that belief, that the Communists are determined to start a war anyway. They have already started war, if you do not realise it. We have now what we call a "cold war." But what difference is there between a "cold war" and a "hot" one? The speed and velocity of a bullet in both cases is the same. Let a hundred East Berliners try to force their way past their guards and you shall see tho bloodiness which ensues. But they (the East Berliners) will not; because they cannot; because they dare not. They are trapped animals. War is already on—the war between freedom and imprisonment; free-will and no will, goodness and badness. The Russians have already started. They commenced long ago—China,' Cuba, Hungary.

You think all this is a lot of emotionalism and sensationalism? You may distrust the Press, you may distrust the New Zealand Radio, you may distrust the B.B.C., or "Time;" but you cannot deny this —the stories of horror brought over by refugees from Communist countries. There are enough immigrant students around who will tell you what Communism is like, what the ravages of Red indoctrination do to your soul and body. There are students here in Victoria University who will tell you what a Red hell really is. Can you deny their accounts? Can you fight against the truth? These students have experienced it. You have not.

The Communists have already overplayed their parts. They want war; the West should let them have It—get in first before it is too late. For the anti-bomb marcher will tell you how terrible radiation burns are. The nation to get in first will conquer. Will America jeopardize our liberty and our survival with this waiting, this policy of indecisiveness? We are already losing our freedom. We must fight to recover it. It will not be necessary to go to the extent of exterminating all Communists, all Red Chinese, or all Russians—perhaps; but at least we should free the East Berliners, give them back their birth-rights—individuality. Are the East Berliners to be damned by our coward-ice, or fear to stand for justice?

Airotciv, W.P