BERLIN ¢ ROME ¢@ WASHINGTON » CAIRO _

How effective is Soviet
aid to Vietnam? —

An American economist answers
some of the critics ‘from the Left'

~ By VICTOR PERLO

AMERICAN peace supporters
have much in common
with the Soviet Union in

their attitude to the Vietnam

war. Yet a number of U.S. pub-
lications that are influential with
opponents of U.S. intervention
in Vietnam attack the Soviet

Union “from the left.” These at-

tacks resemble or reflect Chinese

attacks on the USSR.

One allegation is that ‘the
USSR gives inadequate military
aid to North Vietnam. The mas-
sive U.S. intervention in the last
two years, and its air-sea ag-
gression against North Vietnam
have changed the character of
the war. -It can no longer be
fought exclusively by guerrilla
methods and hand weapons. The
National Liberation Front forces
use larger military formations
equipped with artillery, and
‘North Vietnam uses an ever-ex-

panding array of defensive
equipment against air attacks.

Since Premier Kosygin’s visit
to Hanoi in February, 1965, the
USSR and other Warsaw Pact
countries have been increasing
military aid to North Vietnam,
of the types necessary for this
new stage of the war.

North Vietnam now has the
most effective anti-aircraft de-
fense ever used in war, accord-
ing to the best-known American
military .commentators. U.S.
planes, despite their multiplied
speed and short flying distance
over Vietnamese territory, are
absorbing larger loss rates than
the U.S. Air Force took from
anti-aircraft over Germany in
World War II. The dense AA
gun and missile network and the
sophisticated radar network,
functioning with split-second ac-
curacy on a country-wide scale,
are all supplied by the USSR.
So are the war planes, appearing
in increasing numbers and win-
ning the begrudging respect of
their American adversaries.

Instan extremely important
joint statement, the _Warsaw
Pact powers in July to

render “every kind of assistance”

. . . neeeded to victoriously re-
pulse..the American aggression,”
and to. allow.volunteers to fight
there whenever the North Viet-

_-amese government réquésts....
Military technicians are there al- '~

sady, and Vietnamese flyers
arétemined on Soviet soil.

Some’ “ane “tritianggimply
cover up or minimize

without specifying what form it
shoukftake. Soviet aid to Viet-
nam is limitedto what the North

“Vietnamese government requests

— a real limitation since that
government hitherto has con-
tinued to hope to avoid all-out
war on its territory.

More important is the limita--
tion imposed by Chinese obstruc-
tionism. Refusal to permit a
Soviet air connection to Viet-
nam imposes a grave handicap
to timely all-around military aid
to a country thousands of miles
away. .

A Chinese demand, echoed by
some in the United States, is for
a Soviet. diversion in Europe.
Such an action would lose for
the socialist side much of the
political support it has gained
in this war. It might actually:
help the United States, overall,
in Vietnam. It might also touch
off a nuclear world war.

The fight against U.S. aggres-
sion in Vietnam has many fronts.
First of all, needless to-say, is

_ the heroic resistance of the Viet-

namese people, already one of
the outstanding epics of history..
Also essential are the mass ac-
tions of millions of people all
over the world, diplomatic ac-
tivity by leaders of many gov-
ernments of different’ social
structures, initiatives by inter-

‘national figures like U Thant and

the Pope. Absolutely essential is
the great economic, military and

political aid from the USSR and
other socialist countries,

The defeat of U.S. aggression
in Vietnam requires an increas-
ing scale and unity of action on
all of these fronts. Such a
course, leading to the military
blocking of the U.S. in Vietnam
and its political isolation in the
world, can end the intervention
in Vietnam short of a world war
and/or the destruction of the
Vietnamese people. ;

American peace forces, while
numerically relatively small,
play a strategically vital role in
this picture. But realistically,
the contribution of Americans
to helping the Vietnamese is a
tiny fraction of the Soviet con-
tribution. Knowledge of the
latter, and of other international
aid to the Vietnamese people,
will encourage American oppon-
ents of the war. .

Those who snipe at the USSR

in this respect tend to breed’

demoralization and_ passivity
among American peace support-
ers, and to encourage disunity
among anti-imperialists interna-
tionally. It is the moral duty of
Americans of good conscience to
concentrate on improving and
increasing their own peace ac-
tivities, rather than back driving
the Soviet Union.

-Defectors made to

a ; LONDON
LETTER has blown the lid
off America’s extensive
anti-Communist activity in

Britain.

The letter, which exposes
under-cover anti-Communist ac-
tivities by the U.S. Embassy in
this country came from the Am-
erican Consul in London and
itemizes the kind of anti-Com-
munist activity that must be un-
dertaken for at least five years

. prior to application for a visa to

the U.S., if the applicant was at
one time a member of the’ Com-.
munist Party.

The letter is a standard dupli-
cated communication sent out
from the U.S. Embassy.

The applicant for a visa to-the
United States who received it *
had been a member of the Com-
munist Party years ago.

When this former membership
was mentioned, the«visa appli-
cation was rejected, although:
everything had gone smoothly

endtexamp to that point.

mous aid. Others demarid more, -

Confitmation of the visa re-
jection came accompanied by a
letter from the American ‘@6n-~
sul, suggesting that “you may
wish to take further action” to

get a visa “by applying for de-
fector status.”

To do this, the letter demand-
ed evidence of activities against
the Communist Party for at least
five years.

It also required proof that “all
connection with any Communist
activity” had been severed. for
at least five years.

- References in the letter im-
plying that active membership
of an anti-Communist organiza-
tion would be considered an ad-

Immigration and Nattonality Act.

¥

Feu shep-chew your activo -oppoattion. La“Cormusw for a five-year period by’
“@,proscnting documentary evidence of anti-Gommunist activity during this

evidence emanating from responsibt rces

cludé-Weittngs, speeches, and similar manifestations... You should

submit three coples of any such documents or speeches and, if the original
hree copies of certified English translations.

could in

is in another language, t

BRITISH COMMUNISTS have called on members of the Labo
Party and the trade union movement to oppose Britain’s entry int
the Common Market. They propose the alternative of an 4
Europe conference to discuss new forms of economic and politi
cooperation in Europe, leading to agreements on European peace
and security. A statement issued by the Communist Party’s exec’
tive committee said the Common Market was not Europe but
section of Europe; it perpetuated economic and political division ;
and was an obstacle to cooperation . . . North Vietnam Presiden
Ho Chi Minh last week sent a letter to the soldiers and citizen’
of the district of Vin Lin congratulating them for the fact tha
within seven hours on Noy. 11 they brought down six U.S. plané
and captured several American flyers.

: * * *

_. THE CUBAN government has announced that on Nov. 12 ane
unidentified plane, flying from the north, -dropped three U.S.-mae® —
bombs on the “Sepero Bonilla” chemical plant on Metansas Bay:

One of the bombs slightly damaged: one of the plant’s warehous
es ...A 2,000-pound skull of a prehistoric elephant, the ancest?
of the mammoth, has been unearthed in the North Caucasus. It !
the biggest skull yet found and has lain in the earth for ovel *
million years. ;

towel

* * * .

UNITED STATES ships in the port of Pusan last week Ua
loaded a shipment of rockets intended for the puppet South Koreal
army, which now has two rocket-equipped divisions, one with #
Hawk missile, the other with Nike-Hercules . . . Egypt and syria
have agreed at a series of high level talks between their govel™ —
ment leaders to normalize their relations. The agreement calls 1°
the coordination of all politieal and military activities of the ™
countries in the event either is attacked.

* * 2.5 :

POLAND has adopted a new five-year plan which will ra
industrial production by more than 40 percent by 1970. The ae
also provides for a 34 percent increase in national income and 4 2
percent rise in consumption. Production of foodstuffs and cons
mer goods will be greatly increased . . . Pregnant women should
avoid coffee and other drinks and products containing caffeine
says Dr. Wolfram Ostertag, a West German medical researche™

x * *

CUBA is setting up special schools to train Africans, Asia
and Latin Americans in guerilla warfare techniques, says Haval
Radio. “Such schools are one of the most effective contributio™ —
to the development of the anti-imperialist movement in the thré
continents,” the radio said... A large party of Soviet polar &*
plorers will trek 1,800 miles through unknown territory in the Ant
arctic next month. On their route is the Pole of Inaccessibility —
the point on the frozen continent furthest from any coast. j

order—in the USA

“responsible officials there?
testifying to the organizatio
activities and the extent of ¢

vantage, shows the letter to be
an incitement to anti-Communist
and anti-progressive activity.

The letter explains what sort
of evidence the U.S. Embassy
would consider acceptable.

This includes “documentary
evidence of anti-Communist ac-
tivity” to be provided by “re-
sponsible sources.”

If the applicant joins what is
described as “reputable anti-
Communist organizations,” evi-
dence must be produced from

_ Facsimile excerpts from the U.S. embassy letter

December 2, 1966—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page

Ve =
¥

You-may wish to take further action with respect-to your visa ineligibility
by applying: for defector status under Section 212(a}(28)(L)(11) of the
In order for you to establish your visa —
eligibility under this Section.of the Act, it will be necessary for you to
demonstrate that you have conclusively disassociated yourself from all con-~

“Rgction with any Communist activity as of wdute,at least five years prior

arces.

applicant’s participation.

Sworn affidavits are requil®
“from your parish priest or min
ister, from friends, relative
neighbors and/or business 285° |
ciates who have known you of
a period of five years since ¥¥ —
date of your defection” to co”
roborate that “you have bee?
consistently anti-Communist fof
at least five years.” oe

Xv

Such activittes#