Never has the age-old yearning to turn swords into ploughshares been more justified. The signing of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force Treaty in Washington on December 8 seemed to many to mean at least a halt in the arms race and a turn toward disarmament. Is this just a vain hope? HANS-JÜRGEN SCHULZ
ORLDWIDE, at least 50,000 nuclear weapons with an explosive potential of 20,000 megatons are being kept in readiness. This is a grotesque and irrational over-armament. One US navy submarine carrying 220 missiles with an explosive potential of 0.01 megatons could make Hiroshimas out of all the Soviet big cities.
Nonetheless, for decades the the US government has been stepping up the arms race 16 to gain overwhelming nuclear superiority. And the Soviets have been striving to keep International Viewpoint • March 7, 1988
Tactical warheads 8,960
Total warheads Range (km)
USSR TOTAL
Intermediate-range
SS-4, SS-5, SS-20 2-5,000
Short-range
SS-12 SS-23 350-900
USA TOTAL
Intermediate-range
Pershing-Il, Cruise 17-2500
Short-range
Pershing 1 A 740 up with it, trying to achieve a numerical equality that has become absurd. Table 2 shows the extent of its success.
Even the generals consider this excessive, and have quietly undertaken corrections. Thus, the number of US nuclear weapons stationed in Europe was reduced from 8,000 to 4,600 (at the end of 1986). In five years' time, this is supposed to be further reduced to 3,400. In fact, this does not involve voluntary disarmament.
What are going out are atomic mines. atomic artillery (with a range of 15 to 30 kilometers) and atomic anti-aircraft guns. These weapons are an expression of military stupidity. Because of their short range, they are not only weapons of nuclear mass destruction but also of self-destruction, because they would endanger the forces of
The number of of nuclear weapons is, in any case, so great that numerical superiority becomes meaningless. Even if it fell victim to the worst conceivable nuclear attack. the Soviet Union would still have enough nuclear weapons left to wipe any attacker off the earth several times over. In these
9,900 128 192 46 9,000 536 295 260 18,900 536 487 306 Deployed Reserve Total Missiles 857 895 1,752 3,600 470 356 826 2,500 387 :539 926 1,100 501 358 859 950 429 260 689 72 98 170 conditions, the peace movements in Eastern
Europe and a section of the left in Western
Europe have also called on the Soviet Union to take unilateral disarmament
This would have no effect on the military relationship of forces. But by such demonstrative measures, the Soviet Union could highlight its desire for peace. Imperialist propaganda's lies about a Soviet threat would be undermined, and the pressure of the peace movement would be increased.
Such positions have been attacked by the official Communist parties in particular as
Now these "anti-Soviet" positions have been adopted by the Soviet government itself. In signing the Intermediate-range Nuclear Force (INF) treaty it met a demand that NATO had been raising for many years. It renounced its own intermediaterange missiles. In return for that, it got very little. Thus, in a formal sense, the imbal-
In the INF treaty, the Soviet Union gave up 1,752 missiles with over 3,600 warheads. The US, however, gave up only 859
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DISARMAMENT Swords into plough- shares (Military expenditure in current prices was $720 billion in 1985) THE COSTS of the arms Table 2: Deployment 1987 race are a heavy burden for all peoples, even the richest. 1,000 Worldwide last year between $750 and $800, 000 million were spent on armaments, half of it by NATO and a quarter by the Warsaw Pact
DISARMAMENT • ARQUND THE WORLD missiles and less than 1,000 warheads (see Table 3). These weapons are supposed to be scrapped within three years. The dismantling of these weapons and the ban on further production is supposed to be monitored not only by satellites and other forms of intelligence, but also through local and factory inspections. (Over a period 13 years, the Soviet Union is supposed to carry out 240 such inspections, and the US 400.)
In this way, NATO increases the quantitative superiority that it had before. Its losses in terms of investment are minor, since the missiles only cost it $6,600 million or 3% of its yearly arms budget. Long before starting to dismantle the missiles, these nuclear weapons will be replaced with new and more powerful ones. Between January and April 1988, for example, 34 of the new B-1B bombers with 1,300 atomic bombs and cruise missiles will be deployed. All other arms programs, in particular the Strategic Defence Initiative (SDI) and the production of chemical weapons will, of course, continue.
In fact, for the time being, the treaty does not make any difference either to the murderous over-arming or the arms race. But, by its concessions, the Soviet government has achieved a big political success. Washrejected any treaty limiting the arms race, had to accept a minimal but symbolic measure of real
Large parts of Europe will become nuclear free
Missiles are going to be dismantled. By their withdrawal, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, the Netherlands, Belgium and perhaps Italy will become nuclear free. Ballistic missiles (not cruise missiles) with a range between 500 and 5,5000 kilometers are not supposed to be produced or tested any longer. In Washington, the American government even reluctantly agreed to common declarations of intent. A desire was expressed to cut the number of strategic weapons in half (1,600 delivery systems and 6,000 warheads). A reduction in the number of troops in Europe and a ban on nuclear tests is being sought, and an exploratory treaty on monitoring tests has even been concluded. That would be real
In June, President Reagan is to visit Moscow. Both sides give the impression that they are determined at that time to come to an agreement at least on reducing strategic weapons. It would be an irony if it were Ronald Reagan who went down in world history as the disarmament president, and then inevitably got the Nobel Peace Prize together with Gorbachev.
It has not gone as far as that. That eventuality is a very unlikely but not entirely excluded variant of the expected development. The Reagan administration will think of some way to wiggle out of the embrace of a disarming Soviet Union. *
AROUND
THE
WORLD
SOUTH AFRICA Botha's new clampdown A TIGHTENING of the state of emergency has been announced by the South African government. Seventeen movements have been banned from any activity. That means that the main anti-apartheid movements will have virtually no right other than to have offices. The main organizations hit are the United Democratic Front (UDF), the trade-union confederation COSATU and the political movement AZAPO
This decision by the government comes on the eve of by-elections in which the ruling National Party is in danger of coming under heavy pressure from the right. The pretext for this new escalation of repression was that a "revolutionary climate" was prevailing in the country. Unfortunately, the struggles had already been very substantially restricted by the extent of the repression and by the arrest of hundreds of leaders.
On the other hand it seems that in reality the racist regime wants to widen its room for maneuver at a time when it is launching a very ambitious policy of economic reforms, freezing wages and privatizing state enterprises. This new policy is aimed especially at satisfying certain liberal capitalist circles and getting the country out of recession. It needed to be complemented by guarantees against strikes and any social
Against this new attack by the Botha regime on the South African Black move. ment, protest demonstrations, while useful, are not enough. In the resistance struggles that it will continue to wage, the South African people's movement, especially the trade-union movement, will need to be able to count on other forms of solidarity. There should not be any strike in a subsidiary of a foreign country or in a major industry without immediate solidarity actions being organized abroad in the corresponding enterprises or industries. COSATU, which in recent months has been the major organization involved in the social struggles, face serious difficulties in
It is still too early to know exactly what effect these latest measures are going to have on the general level of the struggles. Over the two years of the state of emergency, the capacity for action of the Black movement, especially in the townships, has been greatly reduced. The main question that arises today, therefore, is whether labor disputes will still be "legal" and whether the unions will be able to maintain their general activities. * AUSTRALIA Celebrating 200 years of struggle IN ITS FIRST issue (February-March), International Solidarity, the magazine of Solidarity, an Australian group linked to the Fourth International, reported on the demonstrations against the ceremonies commemorating two hundred years of white settlement in Australia:
For many Sydneysiders the Bicentenary will fade into memory as another New Year - grog and fireworks by the harbour. For tens of thousands of Aborigines and land rights supporters January 26 was a decisive show of strength and resolve.
Outside the Central Lands Council building in Alice Springs the red, black and yellow flags were at half mast. Marcia Langton spoke at a brief ceremony of mourning before people returned to work, refusing to mark the anniversary of the invasion as a holiday. In the centre of Melbourne, the official flag-raising came to grief, besieged by angry Aboriginal and white demonstrators whose land rights chants drowned out the official speeches.
While Sydney Harbour bore the brunt of the national festivities, the southern end of the city was choked with hundreds of red, black and yellow banners, carried by marchers from all over Australia. Led by tribal elders and dancers, the march united 12,000 blacks from NSW, Central Australia, Tasmania, the Top End, Victoria and
Falling in behind the Black section of the march were trade union, feminist, lesbian, gay and Uniting Church continents. Thousands marched under the banners of migrant socialist organizations from Italy, Latin America, Turkey and Lebanon. Indigenous peoples' groups from Chile and other Latin American countries, and Kotahitanga, representing Maoiri communities in Aotearoa/New Zeland and Australia, had joined the Aboriginal march in Redfern.
By the time the march reached Hyde Park, 40,000 strong, it was clear to everyone that this was one of the largest and most important political rallies ever held in Australia.
Greetings from overseas indigenous peo- 1 7 ples' organizations and anti-imperialist
March 7, 1988 • International Viewpoint
AROUND THE WORLD fronts, such as the PLO and the Kanak Socialist National Liberation Front, were warmly received.
Aboriginal speakers explained the centrality of land rights to the struggle for sovereignty and self-determination. Speakers denounced the impoverishment that leads to tragically high rates of trachoma, leprosy, deafness and malnutrition. The enormous gap between white and black life expectancy and infant mortality rates testifies to the racist oppression that the bicentennial ceremonies cover up.
The main message from the speakers' platform, however, was optimistic. There was a deep feeling of unprecedented unity of Aboriginal communities different areas and situations; a new pride and confidence, reflecting the strength of this mobilization. Awareness by nonAboriginal Australians and people overseas of these struggles has grown dramatically and will persist. * ISRAELI STATE Spark papers banned ANOTHER ATTEMPT to suppress anti-Zionist publications put out by Jewish group is threatened in Israel. On January 14, Jerusalem District Commissioner of the Ministry of the Interior Eli Swissa informed the publishers of Derekh Hanitzotzoz/Tariq Ash-Sharara ["The Way of the Spark"] that he was considering revoking their licence because of their "real link with the Democratic Front." The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP), led by Na'ef Hawatmeh, is banned in Israel.
The papers concerned are biweeklies in Hebrew and Arabic that have been published in various forms since 1977. They
I'M WALING AFAR 18 PLANTU International Viewpoint • March 7, 1988 are put out by a small group of Trotskyist origin that in 1986 joined the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, the coalition whose major component is the Israeli Communist Party. The group was associated for a time with the Israeli section of the
The first attempt in many years to suppress publications inside the formal boundaries of Israel and in which citizens of Jewish origin were involved came in the raid on the Alternative Information Centre in Jerusalem in February 1987. It involved the arrest of the director of the center, Michael Warschawsky, a well-known leader of the Israeli section of the Fourth International. Despite widespread protests, this new attack on the Spark group makes it clear that the Israeli authorities are still on a course toward greater censorship.
In its February 9 issue, the publication of the Alternative Information Centre, News From Within, expressed its defense of the Spark group against the threat of
"We too have suffered at the hands of the occupying authorities. The Alternative Information Centre was closed last February for six months. The Centre's former director, Michael Warschawsky, currently on $50,000 bail and banned from working with us, is still awaiting trial under the Defense Emergency Regulations and the Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance - acts which permit conviction on the basis of secret evidence, which even the defence lawnot permitted to hear. Our equipment and archives are still held by the police, allegedly as evidence in the trial. We express our full solidarity with Derech Nitzotz/Tariq A-Sharara in their resistance to this arbitrary and antidemocratic decree and endorse their defiant words that "His-
7H73/5 7E SHeW THAT
NEVER tory has proved stronger than arbitrary measures. It is not we who invented the Palestinian uprising, and the closing down of our newspaper will not prevent the Palestinian people from fighting for their just
A representative of the Spark group, Roni Ben-Efrat denied the charge of links with the DPLF in an interview with News From Within. "I am not an expect on the Palestinian organizations, but if any of them ever happens to take a similar position to that of Nitzotz, then so much the better for them."
Protests against the threatened banning of the Spark papers can be sent to Eli Swissa, Jerusalem District Commissioner, 1 Queen Shlomzion St., Jerusalem 94146, Israel. * INTERNATIONAL Moscow Trials Campaign THE CAMPAIGN to clear the names of the accused in the Moscow Trials has been collecting signatures from all over the world (see /V 129 for the full appeal and initial list of signatories). You can contact the campaign c/o Michael Löwy, 34 rue des Lyonnais, 75005, Paris, France.
Latest signatories:
Britain: David King, designer; The following members of the Socalist Workers Party (GB): Tony Cliff; Sheila McGregor; Duncan F. Hallas; Chris Harman; Chris Banbury; Peter Alexander; Lindsey German; Mel Norris; Philip Taylor; Paul Foot;
Mexico: Carlos Saguna Zavala, ambassador; Carlos Fernandez del Real, defence lawyer for political prisoners; Eduardo Neules; Maria Teresa Jardi; Jorge Melen-
Ndez, president journalists union; Eduardo Melma; Eva Grosser; José Carreño. McReynolds, president War Resister League; David Cortright, co-director SANE; Philip Gasper, Uni. of Michigan; Irwin Rosenthal, ed. board Jewish Currents; Phyliss Jacobson, Julius Jacobson, co-directors New Politics; Patrick Quinn, Northwestern Uni. archives. *
The human rights movement debates
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
CZECHOSLOVAKIA
F OR DECADES, the Soviet Union
and the East European countries have been painted as black in the West or, more precisely, grey.
Influenced by Orwellian visions and the testimonies of Solzhenytzyn, Western journalists have been tempted, especially after the Soviet interventions in Czechoslovakia glasnost in 1968 and in Afghanistan in 1979, to present the Soviet system as in essence ag gressive, to argue that it is by nature expansionist. Totalitarianism — a dehumanized state power seeking to absorb and dominate
THE PRAGUE SPRING began 20 years ago, when the
Central Committee plenum in January 1968 removed Antonin Novotny as head of the party and replaced him with Alexandr Dubcek, accelerating liberalization. That opened the way for a tempestuous process of mobilization and questioning of the bureaucratic system.