LABOUR AND C.N.D. A COMMUNICATION from Peter Price
First, congratulations o carrying the statoment from the Labour CND Committee. The Week's co ns should be opon to a broad spectrum of tho left. The statoment itlsclf howover fillod me with misgiving. When oven so cquivocal a figure as A. Wedgewood Benn admits publicly that UNO's role in the Congo was disgraceful, and this is widely acknowledged by those sections to which Labour CND adresses itself, unconditional support for UN0N@auses more trouble among the cogniscants than it sottles. Jivon in the future it is obvious that a UNO commission backed by Irish and Swedish troops will produce a qualitatively different solution to a UNO commission by the soldiers of Cuba and Poland. Surely for any CND group Geis must be for the positive possibilities of UNO action. .
The Committee states"the immediate danger to the peace of the world — rises not so much from the activities of the two world powers, as from the narrow nationalist ambitions of some of the smallor powers." Leave out the word "immediate" and you have a statement of hair-raising inaccuracy, The basic danger to the world arises from ’ the cold war with America and Russia as the principal protagonists. It is within this'cold war! context that CND might observe ‘narrow nationalist ambitions' of Fidel Castro seeking to give the Cubans a decent way of life ~s imperiling the peace of the world. With the colonial revolution in full swing Country efter country is going to adopt the ‘Cuban!’ solution to their tremendous problems. Does anybody really visualise CND stand— ing in opposition to the legitimate aspirations of small nations?
Whilst apologising for my non-attendance during the last few months I would ask my colleagues on the CND Labour Committee to examine their formula afresh. Coexistence is doomed es a policy if it involves strangling the colonial revolution, Ed. notes we are pleased to publish this letter and would like to express the hope that it leads to a lively discussion (in the columns of our journal and elsewhere) of tho fundamental issues posed by P.Prico.