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by the unabated military buildup of
conventional and nuclear forces by
the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact nations.
Added to NATO's woes is the
high state of tension over Cyprus
between Turkey and Greece along
Europe's soft underbelly. And as
usual, America is blamed for the
unresolved Cyprus issue. As a result,
many vital land and sea bases
in
these two feuding countries are now
closed to American forces.
Ano ther chink in the NATO ar–
mor
is
the rift between lceland and
NATO a lly Britain over fi shing
rights in lcelandic-claimed waters.
The two NATO "allies" have now
broken off diploma tic relations.
The "cod war" jeopardizes the
America-manned NATO base at
Kefl.avik a nd other NATO stat ions
in Iceland, which a re vital for moni–
toring Soviet nava l and a ir force
movements in the North Atlantic.
Elsewhere in Western Europe,
communist parties are threatening
to take important, if not dominat–
ing, positions of leadership in ltaly
and F rance. Even though they
strongly profess independence from
Moscow's dictates. they st ill do not
evoke emotions of trust.
Britain , with its communist–
infiltrated labor-uni on lead ership ,
frightfully unstable economy, and
fickle governmen t, has proven to be
a major irritant to her continental
Common Market partners.
Meanwhile, U.S. congressional
leaders seem not at a ll chagrined at
hampering vita l U.S. intelligence
operations through detailed pubüc
revelations of a buses or through
leaks of intelligence activities them–
selves.
Allied Fears: ls
U.S.
Trustworthy?
It is no wonder that more and
more inftuential Europeans are
vocalizing fears a bou
t
the sta bility
of their post-World War
IJ
alliance
with the United States.
"Ame ri ca's interna! problems
have robbed Washington of its ca–
pacity to lead," voiced one former
Britisb Foreign Office official.
Winston S. Churchill , grandson of
Britain's famo us World War IT
leader, lamented in a recent speech
"the grotesque orgy of self-denigra-
(Continued on page 4)
The
PLAIN TRUTH Aprii-May 1976
RACI WAR IN SOUTHIRN AfRICA?
Encouraged by their victory in
Angola, Soviet- and Cuban-sup–
ported African national ist guerrillas
may seek to "compl ete the job" by
launching an offensive aimed at
overthrowing the last remaining
white minority governments in
southern Africa.
With the former Portuguese colo–
nies of Angola and Mozambique
now independent and ruled by
Ma rxist black nationalists, Rhodesia
a nd Sou th Africa hav e been
stripped of geographica l buffers and
now face radical black nationa lism
head-on across their borders.
First Target- Rhodesia
Tbe immediate threat is to Rho–
desia
(Zimbabwe
to African nation–
a lists) - a nation of 270,000 whites
ruling over 6 million blacks.
As we go to press, Mozambique
has closed its border with Rhodesia
and has declared a "state of war,"
seizing all Rhodesian property and
assets within Mozambique. Though
seen primarily as a saber-ra ttling
gest ure, the action by Mozambique
bodes iU for the possibility of a
peaceful, negotiated resolution of
differences.
Rhodesia's Prime Minister Ian
Smith has been engaged for sorne
months in negotiations with Joshua
Nkomo, head of the moderate Rho–
desian-based faction of the African
National Council, attempt ing to
work out sorne sort of power-shar–
ing formula. Little progress, how–
ever, has been made, and the
negotiatio ns h ave recently been
termed " near collapse."
If a peaceful transition to black
majority rule canno t be achieved in
Rhodesia, full-scale war is seen as
inevitable, especially now that black
na tionalist guerrillas fee l they can
depend on Moscow for help. Gangs
of Soviet-armed insurgents are al–
ready at wo rk in the eas tem high–
lands of Rhodesia , operating out of
camps in Mozambique.
It is believed by most obser vers
tha t the Rhodesian governmen t
forces , even though well trained and
ad equa tely eq uipped, could not
withstand a major guerrilla cam–
paign for long on their own.
Yet despite the threa t of even tual
Soviet domination of the area, Brit–
ish and U.S. officials have made it
clear that there will be no American
or British military intervention to
defend the minority Rhodesian re–
gime
if
fighting breaks out. Both
governments have instead been urg–
ing " realistic" negotiations to fore–
stal! the threat ofviolence.
Second Target - South Africa
War
in
South Africa itself is seen
as very unlikely. The black African
confrontation wit h tha t nation
would probably come
in
the South
African-ruled territory of Namibia,
or South-West Africa.
South Africa acqu ired Namibia –
a former German colony - after
World War
J
under a League of
Nations mandate. The United Na–
tions has subsequently called for an
end to South African rule over the
territory, declaring the continu ing
South African presence " illegal. "
The militant South-West African
Peoples Organization (SWAPO) - a
nationalist group r ecognized by the
U.N. as " the sole legitimate repre–
senta tive of the Namibian people"
- is reportedly ready to "invite ex–
terna! intervention" to drive the
South Africans out.
The once-heralded détente policy
of South African Prime Minister
John Vorster - designed to gain a
measure of acceptance for South Af–
rica in black African circles - now
appears to be on the rocks in the
wake of South Africa's intervention
in Angola. With the victory of
Ma rxist forces in Angola and the
demonstrated Soviet support for Af–
rican " liberation," Vorster's détente
has lost much of its appeal to black
Africa ns.
Surrounded by black Africans
in
overwhelming numbers, the white
populaces of Rhodesia and South
Africa may be in for a long and
bloody struggle to retain their right
in the African sun. D
3