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Canadian delegate reports

Among the Canadian partici-
pants at the recent Paris World
Assembly for Peace and Inde-
pendence of the Indochinese
Peoples was Pearl Wedro, the
delegate of a number of Cana-
dian organizations, the Cana-
dian Peace Congress, Labor
Committee for Peace in Indo-
china, the Toronto Association
for Peace, the Vietnam Mobiliz-
ation Committee and the United
Jewish Peoples Order,

Just back from Paris, Miss
Wedro talked about the confer-
ence and its world-wide impact
to the Tribune. :

“Most important was the pur-
pose of the Assembly which
was clear from the beginning,”
she said. “It was to awaken the
conscience of the world to the
criminal and _ genocidal war
waged by American imperialism
against the Indochinese people.
During the proceedings of the
conference, through the con-
tribution of the delegates, espe-
cially the representatives of the

. countries of Indochina, Nixon’s

claims that he is winding down
the war, and seeking peace;
were proved to be nothing more
than blatant lies, an attempt to
lull the people into complacency.

“It is obvious from facts and
figures available, and from the
testimony of eminent scientists,
witnesses to the destruction,
that the war has in fact been
extended. While Nixon, under
pressure from the growing anti-
war sentiment among the Amer-
ican people -and public opinion
around the world, was forced to
withdraw part of U.S. combat
forces stationed in Vietnam,
these were replaced by over a
million South Vietnamese
troops, paid for, trained, armed
and outfitted with U.S. dollars.

“The number of air sorties by
planes carrying chemical and
biological weapons, and other
sophisticated methods of des-
truction has increased.

“The bombing against North
Vietnam, as well as the South,
Laos, and Cambodia, has been
stepped up. New types of weap-
ons are being used — anti-per-
sonnel bombs are being directed
against. civilian targets. Indis-
criminate raids on any building
is the order of the day.

“Millions of dollars have been
spent on research for war, for
newer and better vehicles of
mass -destruction. This is con-
trary to the Hague and Geneva
Conventions, which outlawed
such weapons. However little
publicity has been given to
this facet of the war which the
Nixon administration is trying
to keep under wraps.

“Tt is no wonder then that
Nixon and his ambassador to
the Paris peace talks, William
Porter, attempted to pressure
the French government into not
allowing the Assembly where
all this could be, and was, re-
vealed to people around the
world. Out of desparation they.
cancelled the talks and branded
the Assembly ‘a horde of Com-
munists’.”

Miss Wedro went on to talk
about’ the contribution of the
broad U.S. delegation to the
meeting. “The 147 U.S. deleg-
ates spoke with bitterness about
the acts of the Nixon admin-
istration, the Mr. Porters, etc.
They stated emphatically that
the Nixon administration repre-
sents a minority of the Amer-
ican population. Over 70% of
Americans are demanding an
immediate end to this suicidal
war.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, MARCH 3, 1972—PAGE 10

_ on world peace assembly

“Every delegate from the 84
countries present, from the hun-
dreds of organizations represent-
ed, gave their support. to the
heroic struggles of the Indo-
chinese people. Time after time
it was pointed out that the
struggle of the Indochinese peo-
ple is the struggle of all of us.
Each person present was deter-
mined to go back and mobilize
the masses of his countrymen

for. the just demands. of the

heroic Indochinese people: -with-
drawal of U.S. troops and the
cessation of the air war; all U.S.
military activities, as well as
those of its allies be halted; all
support be stopped to the pup-
pet Thieu government; the U.S.
government should respect the
right of the Indochinese people
to self-determination; and that
all U.S. interference in Indo-
china cease. In essence,” Miss
Wedro went on to say, “these
are the two main demands of
the seven-point peace proposals
of the Provisional Revolutionary
Government of South Vietnam.”
. Miss Wedro was asked about
the contribution of the Cana-
dian delegation. “The Canadian
delegates participated in all the
panels of the Assembly, as well
as the discussion-of trade union-
ists. Many of them made unique
contributions.

“This is only a small fraction
of the terrific impact the As-
sembly had for me. Many times,
after listening to the incredible
suffering of the Indochinese
people, delegates sat there with
tears in their eyes. And what a
joy it was to receive reports of
the heroic achievements of
these fighting men and women
in spite of their adversity.

“It was especially brought out
by the Indochinese delegations
the tremendous contributions
women are making on the bat-
tlefield and all areas of strug-
gle. On the home front women
are charged with many of the
most responsible activities —
culture, education, and general
defense. At the Assembly. were
many women, witness to the
fact that women play a major
role in the fight for peace the
world over.”

’ PEARL WEDRO

Chile crackdown

SANTIAGO (PL) — The new
Interior Minister Hernan del
Canto promised to clamp down
on semi-illegal groups who act-
ed openly in defiance of the gov-
ernment, the state institutions
and the democratic system.

Hernan del Canto, a former
manual worker and head of the
Chilean Trade Union Organiza-
tion, warned anti-constitutional
groups that appropriate legal
measures would be taken against
them.

By PHIL BOLSOVER
(Editor of Sanity)

It’s the latest in killing —
American, of course. “It has
the possibility of being one of
the greatest steps forward in
warfare since the invention of
gunpowder,” said Senator Barry
Goldwater happily to a group
of soldiers and politicians.

It is one of the means by
which President Nixon hopes to
replace soldiers by machines
and still keep control of Viet-
nam.

It is known to war contrac-
tors and generals as “the elec-
tronic battlefield,’ the Penta-
gon’s pet. It is costing America
more than $4 billion—this was
the figure reckoned by the Elec-
tronic Battlefield. Sub-commit-
tee of the U.S. Senate when it
met in 1970.

The electronic battlefield is a
combination of several things:

e Sensors that can detect
men or machines by movement,
vibration, sound or even smell.
These may be put in place by
hand, dropped from planes to
bury themselves in the ground
or floated down by parachutes
to hang in trees. They are of all
sizes, from some about as big
as a button to others bigger
than a man.

e Radio transmitters that
transmit signals from the sen-
sors to a “communications
link,” usually a plane, which
re-transmits them to a “read-
out” device on the ground at a
focal headquarters.

e Computers which  deter-
mine the targets, their number,
rate of movement and direction.
The computers call out: bomb-
ers to hit the targets found by
the sensors, or they direct artil-
lery fire.

Great Claims

In Vietnam, two-thirds of
American combat troops have
been used in patrols to find
their opponents or to protect
units from surprise attack. The
U.S. War Department is trying

’ to use sensors for this work and
’ to combine the electronic gadg-

etry with overwhelming bomb-
ing power.

Great claims are being .made
for the electronic battlefield by
an enthusiastic Pentagon, which
sees it as a chance of winning
a war while pretending to with-
draw. Said Maj.-Gen. Ellis Ww.
Williamson: “We are making
unusual efforts to avoid having
the American young man stand
toe-to-toe, eyeball to eyeball
or even rifle to rifle against an
enemy that may outnumber him
on the battlefield.”

But whether automated ag-
gression can cope with a re-
sourceful guerilla army con-

vinced of the justice of its cause '

and supported solidly by the
local civilian population is an-
other matter. The retreat of the

Pentagon's electronic weapon

Americans and the South Viet-
namese in Laos appears to be
supplying the answer.
: Nevertheless, South-East Asia
is being used as the testing
ground for something that has
unpleasant, not to say mon-
strous, implications.
Scientific Killing
A year or so ago, before the

plans for this more scientific

form of killing were known out-
side a limited circle, Gen. W. C.
Westmoreland, formerly U.S.
Commander-in-Chief in  Viet-
nam, looked exultantly at what
he believed would be America’s
future war machine:

“I see battlefields or combat
areas that are under 24-hour
surveillance of all types. I see
battlefields on which we can
destroy anything we can locate
through instant communications
and _the almost instantaneous
application of highly lethal fire-
Power... With cooperative
effort, no more than 10 years
should separate us from the au-
tomated battlefield.”

We have many times been re-
minded that a pilot bombing a
village is separated from the
horror of his work. He does not
see the spouting blood, the fly-
ing limbs, the maimed children.
He drops his bombs and flies
home for a good meal.

But the combat soldier may
well have moments of moral re-
vulsion as he surveys his handi-
work; even at the My Lai mas-
Sacre there were some who
turned away.

Massacres From Afar

That distinction will now be
removed if Gen. Westmoreland’s
friends have their way. Mas-
sacres will be committed by a
man looking at dancing green
blips on a cathode ray tube, or
an expert scanning a computer
readout—or even by the com-
puter itself,

ie:
of the

’ And if it turns out aif

US military top bras }

It will be a nice, at :
sacre. No need for Liewl i:
blips were caused by ‘rel
peasants going to 4 pill
child leading a walel ig
well you can’t court

if

computer. 3
Vietnam today, ae)
the world tomornaa od Ml

W. J. Evans was 48 {
Senate sub-committee yy
he thought the sensor f
used in other parts of # i

His answer was ae ot
official jargon would al ih
believe’ the system ha il
strated significant pow off
enhancing future 9%
world-wide ...

“To provide this
improvements must | ;
accommodate _ presé?
design to the much m? 3H
environmental conditio”
found in many othe!
the world which are ® |
interest ,;°.. . i

“The overcrowded sof
quency of Central EWN
sents another probler’ af
working on this probl

Seismic React! ff

Maj.-Gen. J. R. Deans
matter more bluntly: | oh
he said, when asked
use these sensors in afl
battlefield very effect ;

Finally, to bring  j
right home, Gen. Deal i
mit a little local diff

“We know that in § ait
of the world, like 2 U
example, there are 8 f)
deposits a very sma f,
below the surface of # ni)
very little overburae
don’t get very good Fy
action in that kind % 9!
then you would use © |
kind of sensor.” ot”

No doubt they are
that, too.

oP

Among the candidates
for the federal elections a

Jeanette Walsh, nomina
editor of Combat, who

so far nominated by the Comm",
re these two outstanding French | 3
ted in Montreal-Laurier, and cle |
Is contesting Montreal St. Jacque:
Quebec, Claude Demers was Tchinnted in Labelle const! 4