Salients' Views on Peace Convention Supported

Salient's report on the International Con-n-vention for Peace Action squared completely with my experience at it. But I think an unwary person might draw the conclusion from it that the Socialist Unity Party dominated the formal committees, however they were produced.

I don't believe that this was the case. It was obvious to anyone with experience in logrolling, and the SUP's leadership certainly has that experience, that the SUP's strategy was to work in a co-ordinated way through the small discussion groups so as to get the convention to endorse Soviet foreign policy, particularly the fraud of "detente", and a permanent organisation which they would later attempt to body-snatch and turn into organ of the World Peace Council. The World Peace Council, of course, is nothing more than an arm of the Soviet Foreign Ministry. Its speaker at the convention was ong on Soviet rhetoric about peace but short on the real facts about the world situation as were most other overseas speakers.

Of course, the anti-democratic organisation of the convention worked in their favour. Only when all delegates are assembled, and all issues debated in the open in front of everybody, can the united activiity of such a dubious group be exposed. And the SUP, more than most, realises that Soviet foreign policy cannot prevail in open debate.

Your comment on the SUP's false counter-position: "Detente or war" interested me. Andersen, its President, shouted at me when I showed my disagreement with the motion to applaud Carter and Brezhnev for their services to "peace" and "detente": — "So you want war!" It is a tragedy that such schoolboy logic as his, and the SUPs, still influences good people. The bitter truth is that there is no detente in the world, other than in the imagination of people such as Andersen — I doubt that Brezhnev and Carter genuinely believe that it exists!

The global rivalry of the two superpowers is sharpening day by day, particularly since the Helsinki conference on European Security and co-operation which Soviet delegates and their stooges lauded so much at the convention.

I hope that "Salient" this year continues it fine record of democratic debate on important issues and continues to expose the deteriorating world situation. Contrary to the hopes and wishes of the good people at ICPA, world peace is no longer possible — the rivalry of the two superpowers have made this so. World war between them is now inevitable.