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Response To RED-BAITING (Editorial)

By VVAW

Recently a small sect, the Communist Party (ML) saw fit to attack VVAW. In their newspaper The Call they pointed to an error in the last issue of THE VETERAN on Zaire. In talking about the invasion of Cuban and Katangan mercenaries, we wrongly stated that "the people of Zaire don't gain a whole lot from this skirmish." This article goes on to state that it is vital for the people of Zaire to defeat the invaders and this is the thrust of the article and of VVAW's position. The Call, on the other hand, uses this error to say that VVAW went on to call for all sides to lay down their arms. This is utter nonsense and The Call knows it.

What they did was to use this to red-bait VVAW saying it's "controlled" by communists. The Call went on to claim that the article, in fact, was written by the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP). If the CP (ML) wishes to attack the RCP, they can. We are sure that the RCP can handle themselves. Our practice with the RCP in such recent campaigns against the Klan and the Nazis convinces us of that. The Call can criticize us for our errors but to distort and red-bait is quite another question.

Their slanders remind us of the anti-communist classes we were given in basic training or tirades from a certain Georgia Congressman who belongs to the John Birch Society.

VVAW is a veterans' organization with 10 years of proud struggle under our belt. Many people belong, including communists, but we are neither ventriloquist's dummy nor a puppet on a string. An attack from a sect which has done little in the past year except stand on the sidelines of struggles claiming to lead them would not normally be answered by us. But since these people give thousands of their papers away along marches, rallied and struggles we have been involved in we felt it appropriate to answer this trash. For a group calling itself the "Communist Party" (ML) to engage in the same game as the John Birch Society is a lesson for us--calling oneself a bird doesn't mean one can fly.