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COMMENTARY
PRESSURES INTENSIFY
IN SOUTHERN AFRICA
by
Stanley R. Rader
The author accompanies
Plai n
Tru th
Editor-in-Chie.f 1/erbert
W.
11
rmstrong 011 his Ji'equent
l'isit.\' ll'it h heud1·oj'state and
0 1
her
/eoding intemcll io11al dignitariel.
JOHA:'>JN ESBURG, South Afri ca.
May
27,
1976.
B) tht.: time
th1~
issuc of
The Plai11
Truth
ha~
reachcu manv of you. lhc
ni1ed
S1a tc~
will have officfally cel–
ebra tcu it:. 200th yea r or indepen–
ucncc.
Cond i1 ions in lhe world do not
pcrmit Mr. ll crbert Armstrong and
me. hov. cvcr. to spcnd July 4 at
homc. We shall instead be in Jeru–
sa lem on tha t day. assisting in thc
ded ica tion of thc Libc ny Bcll Park
in thc hcan of' Jcru ·a lem. where wc
wi ll be creati ng a playground for
ch ildren.
We a rrivcu
la~l
night in Johan–
nc\burg a f't cr comp leling a threc–
uay
v i ~i t
in thc crucial t\ liddle
Ea~t
oil-
area~
or Oman and Kuwait. Wc
~ha ll
be in
t hi~
stra lcgic area f'or
~omc
tour wccb anu !>ha ll also be
\ 'i:.i l in!!. the ne¡ghbo ring
~tale!>
or
Rh o<..le";.ia anu
Ta~vania. ~
Evcnts
~ccm
to be mo,·ing at an
evcr accelcrateu ra te on lhis cont i–
nent anu in Europc.
a~
\>,ell as in all
pan~
of' thc world. Al th e rl:!cent
Mideast
Oí/ Tanker
Route to
E
urape
emi an nua l mee ting of the foreign
ministe rs of the NATO nat ions in
Norway. U.S. Sccrcta ry of' Sta te
Kissinger :,t resscd thc dangers lha t
would bcl"a ll thc Allan t ic a ll ies if the
Communi~ ts
came into power in
ltaly. At thc
~ame
time. Mr. Ki -
inge r
wa~
torced lo a l o d rop the
\\llrd
détell!e
from
h i~
\'Ocabula rv in
!'oliO\\ ing th c lcau or Prcsidcnt
Foru. Ob:-.erver!>
hc re ancl abroad
fee l tha t thc Unitcu States ancl her
ATO allies a re falli ng beh ind in
the world arms race. Mr. Kissinger
also founu it nece a ry at the NATO
conferc nce to ad mit tha l the Rus–
sia n ascenda ncy as un in dustrial and
mi litary power hou ld have been
an tic ipa ted and should be accep ted.
Now lh a t th c w·o r lcl is di s–
ill usionecl with détcnle. il is more
co ncerncd th a n eve r a bout th e
Un ited Sta tcs' rcsolve and abi li ty to
repel aggre sion in the wakc or the
fa ll of' Vie tnam anu the recent de–
bacle in Angola.
Cu riousl) cnough. however. in
Ru~sia
a confl icl simi lar to thc one
bc t\\ecn Dr.
K i~si n ger
and forme r
Del'cn:,e Sccrclary James Schle::.–
inger ha::, come to 1hc rore. Lcon id
BreLhne\'
ha~
becn dcvateu to the
ra n k of' :v1 a r::,ha ll in th e Sovie t
Army. a nd a civi lia n has bccn
namcu lO hcad lhc SO\ iet Uníon·,
Dc pa rt mcnt of' Dcf'ensc. The Red
Armv "hawks' ' have a ttackeu the
poliéy of déten te. howcver, and
hnvc \\arned that thc need::. of the
.S.S. R. are grcater tha n those of
thc Uniteu States because thc Soviet
Un ion mu:.t prepare lor a v. a r on
two
front~
agains t the United
Sta te and
agai n~t
China. Also. the
Red Anny
cl;-ic f~
argue tha t the So–
vie t Union ca nnot anu must not
aga in unde rcs lima te the dange rs of
a wa r engendercd by .. imperia lism.' '
rcmember ing. of' coursc. thc mís–
ta kes or Sta lin prior lO
1941 -
mis–
takes which co: t thc Russians so
dearly in thc early stagcs or thc war
agai ns t Gc rmany.
Mca nwhilc. in out hern Africa.
the da ngers appcar even more im–
minent no" tha t thc war í::. more
"hot" than cold . The Republi c of
South Africa. of course. "'as en–
gaged militarily in Angola before
pro-Wc t forccs capitula ted to the
victorious MPLA. In neighboring
Rhodesia lhc guerrilla are stepping
up their activit ies aga inst thc gov–
crnment from wit hin ancl from with–
out. Althoue.h Fidc l Castro ha · now
announccd
~t h at
his Cuban a rmy
wi ll leavc Angola wit hin a yea r.
th crc is st illthe po ibi lity that ome
Cuba n wi ll remai n in Mozambique
to assis t guerrill as in thcir etrorts
aga inst thc Rhouesian go,ernmen t.
l t is. of course. dear that the Cu–
ban wou lu have never been in Af–
rica except as agen ts or
~ f oscow
-
pe rh ap~
to repay Russian aid ex–
tended to Cuba ovcr the yea rs. and
a lso to eiTect
~econdhandcdly
"'hat
th e Soviet Union
wa~
not prepa reu
lo accomplish in a u irect ma nne r.
All of' southcrn Africa i of great
stra tegic importa ncc. The cast-west
sea routc a round which the maj or
oi l tankcrs naviga te. ca rry ing
Midcl le Eastern oil to Europc. cx–
tends a rou nd South Af'rica. Soulh –
ern Africa n nations also possess
great minera l wealth. includ ing
ch romium - despcra lely needed by
mouern
i ndu~ lf)
for the production
or tee l - as well as gold. platinum.
and other
es~ent i a l
minc rals.
Th e re are many prob lems in
South Africa. ju t as th ere a re in
ot her places around the \\Orlu. and
the e problcms
v.
ill not be resolved
immeuialel). bul will requi re time
an d etrort. Bu t there would cen ain ly
The PLAIN TRUTH July 1976