On the 18th and 19th of May the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign will be holding its first national conference since its founding conference in June, 1966. If we review the events of the last two years, especially the growth of the support for the V.S.C., the particular importance of this conference becomes clear.
In these past two years the situation in Vietnam has changed markedly. The immense U.S. war effort has raised the level of U.S. troop commitment to well over half a million, accompanied by an impressive array of technical aids. We have seen this more than matched by the determined and heroic struggle of the National Liberation Front, and the resistance of the population of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam in the face of intense American bombing. The struggles of the Vietnamese culminated in the magnificent country-wide sweep of the Tet offensive, a military success which has radically altered the political climate in many countries.
This is true of Vietnam itself: striking savage blows at the morale of the American forces, and in the United States where it contributed to the final discrediting of Lyndon Johnson, whose assertions that military victory was possible, ring hollow now that the full striking power of the N.L.F. is apparent.
GROWTH OF THE MOVEMENT
In Britain the success of Tet provided a valuable boost to the anti-war movement in general and to the March 17th demonstration in particular. All along, the movement in Britain has reflected in some way the nature and development of the war in Vietnam. The Vietnam war is a struggle which has intensified day by day and impressed itself on the consciousness of millions of people. It was possible for most people to learn to live under the shadow of nuclear weapons. [illegible] of Hiroshima [illegible] Vietnam brought closer [illegible] scale of [illegible] inflicted by American policy, and by the drama and [illegible].
This factor creates a wholly different climate in the protest movement. The mood has changed from concern at the dangerous possibilities to profound indignation at U.S. policy. There has also developed a willingness to act in support of the Vietnamese. This changing mood demands militant expression around a clear political line. For a movement to harness this change effectively, it must stand independent of all established political organisations. The only movement which has come within a mile of this is the Vietnam Solidarity Campaign. A closer look at the development of V.S.C. soon reveals how it has been able to fulfil this role, and what are its strengths and its weaknesses.
THE FOUNDATION OF V.S.C.
The Vietnam Solidarity Campaign was formally established in June, 1966, at its founding conference, after a period of preparatory work by the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation and some left wing members of the Labour Party, who had carried on a struggle to alter Wilson's policy of servility to Washington (prominent among the latter was Ken Coates, who was expelled from the Labour Party for his efforts). With generous aid - financial and technical - from the B.R.P.F., the campaign set to work organising meetings, exhibitions, and participating in demonstrations; it also played an active role in the campaign around the War Crimes Tribunal and the Free Speech Campaign (an effort to get N.L.F. spokesmen into Britain to speak at teach-ins). The early days were not without problems: at the founding conference nearly half the delegates walked out.
The walk out - led by the more sectarian of the supporters of the Chinese Communist Party, some of whom have come back into the campaign, others of whom now support Liu Shao Chi - was over the question of the four and five points. The splitters wanted the V.S.C. to incorporate these into its statement of aims. The V.S.C. position, adopted at the conference is that it supports the right of the Vietnamese to decide their own conditions for the ending of the war. This being the case, it would be wrong to adopt a particular position, for the Vietnamese may wish to change their minds. This flexible and principled line has been vindicated by recent events in the Vietnam War.
OCTOBER 22nd
However, as the campaign settled down to activity and new supporters came forward, the turning point [illegible] year. The V.S.C. had always striven for international co-ordination (especially with the American protest movement) and when it received an appeal from the National Mobilisation Committee for an activity on the week-end of October 21/22 it made a call for an Ad Hoc Committee to organise the event. The success of October 22nd and the involvement of many new people in the Ad Hoc Committee brought many new supporters and aroused the enthusiasm of thousands of activists.
The demonstration itself was a breakthrough in terms of both scale and militancy. This was possible because V.S.C. initiated the action on a principled political line whilst making determined efforts to ensure that existing protest groups were drawn into the organising of the demonstration.
A similar organisational method was adopted for the March 17th demonstration. It was at this point however that problems began to appear, arising from the fact that the political support for V.S.C. had far outstripped its organising capacity. During the March 17th campaign supporting groups mushroomed but their contact with the centre was minimal. V.S.C. had and still has the organisational form more suited to its earlier work as an educational organisation. This problem was compounded by the withdrawal of financial support by the Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation. Politically, the March 17th protest was an enormous success, in spite of the distortions which appeared in the press, but organisationally there are lots of threads to be picked up.
THE TASKS OF THE CONFERENCE
This should be seen as the primary task of the conference. What is needed now is a network of local groups capable of initiating local activities between major demonstrations. This requires a centre of sufficient strength to provide the co-ordination and servicing such a network needs. This issue needs to be at the centre of the discussion at the next conference. The leading committees of the campaign need to reflect the new [illegible].
As regards specific activities both in the localities and at a national level, special consideration should be [illegible] mobilising support amongst [illegible] instances of British firms producing goods for the American war industry. The latter has been very well documented in a recent pamphlet which the V.S.C. is distributing* and this can provide a very useful focus for local activities.
A careful consideration of these issues can lay the basis for future activity aimed at building around the longer term solidarity movement in Britain. So far it has been possible only to provide a general framework for such activity. In addition with a stronger organisation and more representative committees it will be possible to give to demonstrators the protection that is necessary against various forms of harrassment.
Anyone wishing to attend the conference should write to: [illegible] 8, Toynbee St., London E.1. (telephone BIS 9815)
* BRITAIN, AMERICA AND VIETNAM, available from 8, Toynbee St., London E.1, costing 2/9d post paid.