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What theWorld
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leeds low is
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We yearn for p eace, but flnd ourselves in war. Can we flnd
the way which wi/1 take us from today's strife-torn world to
a
peaceful world tomorrow?
by
Paul W. Kroll
UNITED NATIONS, New York
City
1
WAS
in New York City to interview
C.
V. Narasimhan, Chef de Cabinet
(Executive Assistaot) of .three Sec–
retaries-General of the United Nations
- Dag Hammarskjold, U Thant and
Kurt Waldheim. I had also hoped to
interview former Secretary-General U
Thant.
1 knew both Messrs. Thant and Nara–
simhan would have rnuch to say about
what we must do to achieve world
peace.
The
PLAJN TRUTH magazine is
vitally interested in world peace and the
camel-in-the-needle's-eye difficulties keep–
ing rnankind from achieving such a
goal.
The Problern of Peace
In the accornpanying interview with
Chef de Cabinet Narasirnhan, I was able
to explore sorne of those difficult prob–
lems. Unfortunately 1 was unable to
interview U Thant. He, like his succes–
sor, rnust hold to a policy of granting
no exclusive
oc
special interviews. How–
ever, U Thant's many speeches harn–
mering home the need for peace - and
what must be done to achieve it - are
in the publ ic domain. We have repro–
duced vital excerpts from those speeches
in an accompanying artide.
As I approached the thirty·eight-story
UN Secretaríat Building, I was fi lled
with a composite of contradictory emo–
tions. On the one hand, the thought
crossed my mind, "This is all futile.
What good can possibly come from
more words about war and peace - a
problem that remains as stubborn as
ever?"
In that morning's
New York Times
I
had read of the conflicts in Pakistan,
Vietnam and the Sudan. Those were
mere examples of rnany hot wars or
effects of wars either ended or sím–
mering. The morning paper had also
discussed the turbulent Middle East sit–
uation and the Cold War in general.
The headlines offered no solace and
little evidence that we were rnaking any
progress toward ushering in peace.
Beiog a former New Yorker, I full
well understood that grave social and
política! dilemrnas were not limited to
faraway, exotic places. There were hot–
beds of potential disaster only blocks.
from the United Nations in such well-
eee
known places as Bedford-Stuyvesant
and Harlem.
Beat ing Swords into Plowshares
But as 1 stepped out of the cab in
front of the Secretariat Bui lding on this
rainy day, 1 happened to glance across
the street. My eye fell on a marble wall.
Although I could not see the words
carved in that wall, 1 knew what tbey
were.
Jnscribed on that wall was a great
and noble hope, one borrowed from the
Old Testament scriptures: "They shall
beat their swords into plowshares, and
their spears into pruninghooks: nation
shall not lift up a sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more."
Being a fellow human being, 1 have a
passionate hope that somehow rnankind
will find its way out of the social and
política! dilemmas that grip our planet.
Perhaps, the United Nations can play a
part in bringing about a world of plow–
shares instead of swords. It is a thread–
bare hope, as vital ingredients needed to
ensure world peace are absent at this
time.
After my interview with Chef de
Cabinet Narasimhan, I returned to my
hotel room. In light of the interview
and after a full reading of the many
remarks made by U Thant over the
years regarding world peace,
r
found
that the news media had all too often