The Threat of War

Next up was Graeme Clarke, who announced that he had decided to talk on the international situation. His speech was a fiery synopsis of the dangers of a third world war posed by the contention of the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. This danger was especially real because of the determined expansionism of the latter and the fact that many people were fooled by its claim to socialism.

Clarke checked off a list of recent conflicts in which the Soviet Union and its "stormtroopers" Cuba and Vietnam had engineered coups, invasions and suppression of genuine people's struggles for independence and liberation. Angola where the Soviets had secured vastly unequal defence and trade agreements after backing one of the liberation groups against the generally agreed line that all major groups should share power. The horn of Africa, where Soviets had originally backed Somalia until they discovered they weren't welcome. So they switched sides and took up the cause of the fascist Mengistu regime in Ethiopia even going so far as to participate in attempts to crush the Eritrean Liberation movements which it had not long before supported.

The Norwegian Svalbad Islands, which it had annexed using an imperialist treaty signed under Tsarism as justification, and on which it had planted a naval base. North and South Yemen, where it had staged an assasination of a state leader and encouraged the conflict between the two states. Afghanistan, where again it had organised an army coup and set up a puppet regime.

The worst example, Clarke stated, was Kampuchea. He related how the "Socialist" Unity Party in New Zealand had taken up the claim of Vietnam and the Soviet Union that there were no Vietnamese troops in Kampuchea, despite the fact that East European journalists had reported seeing them in large numbers. These journalists also reported that they had been told not to report the Vietnamese presence, which further destroys the credibility of the Soviet attitude.

The SUP had been mentioned for good reason. Just recently, the FOL National Executive had chosen to interpret a motion from the Wellington Trades Council in a very peculiar way. That motion called for the withdrawal of all foreign troops from Kampuchea and Vietnam. The FOL executive knew this meant the Chinese in Vietnam, but somehow, because the Vietnamese had denied their own presence in Kampuchea, it was deemed not to refer to the Vietnamese actions! This reflected the strength of the SUP on the Executive and its thoroughly corrupt line. Yet in many circles these liars were still called "socialist..!

Clarke then turned to the question of China in Vietnam. Under persistent attack during the last year, he said, China has the right to secure its borders. The Vietnamese have stated that the present Chinese action seems very like that taken against India in 1962. Elaborating on this, Clarke cited the example of a journalist who condemend the Chinese action at that time roundly while writing for Time, but later, after joining the Institute for Strategic Studies and making a thorough assessment of the situation, changed his view and came down on the side of the Chinese. China claimed to have suffered 700 border attacks in the last six months, Clarke pointed out. The situation did indeed seem similar to that in India.

Clarke tallied up the Soviet activity. It was a fully imperialistic power, he asserted, seeking to dominate other countries by force and export capital for the objective purpose of exploiting the workers of other countries and building up its own flagging economy. Even in New Zealand, fishermen in Nelson were fearful of the threat of layoffs caused by Soviet fishing in the area.

The focus of superpower contention, Clarke explained, was in Europe. Technologically advanced where the Soviets desperatley needed technology, rich in industry where the Soviets needed a bigger industrial base to their economy, Europe was the much-desired goal of Soviet expansion. Already, the Warsaw Pact forces were lined up and capable of overrunning the continent. Inevitably, this situation would lead to a world war.

Clarke made it plain that he did not want a war, but suggested that hiding one's head in the sand would not make the danger go away. There were three things that progressive and peace-loving people could do to delay war's outbreak and limit the sphere of contention. Firstly, genuine liberation movements should, be given our support if they were to be successful in excluding both superpowers from influence in their countries. With this, the continued expansion of the Soviets should be consistently opposed. Secondly, the New Zealand government should be called upon to align with the smaller and medium size countries. This included adopting trade relations with them to further the cause of economic independence. Thirdly, we should counter the lies of the Soviet stooges where-ever they were found.