The truth about the generals
Sir: I refer to Monty Woodhouse's article entitled 'The truth about the generals' (28 June).
Mr Woodhouse seems to be saying:
( I ) The wrong military group took over in Greece in April 1967, wrong because he did not know them. (This is much the same argument as would be presented by certain other people who no longer have a say in Greek affairs.) (2) There was no Communist conspiracy. (He uses as evidence that not a single per- son has been convicted since the coup be- cause of treason committed before April 1967. I am not sure whether this is meant to be a feeble argument or a case illustrating the present government's highly moderate attitude. In any case this refutes the argu- ment he puts forward in (1) ).
(3) The Communists have become consider- ably more active and vigorous since the pre- sent Greek government came to power. (In fact the Communist party is in a shambles and has since split up into at least four sections with its leaders at one another's throats.) (4) Those who conducted the coup had almost no experience as fighting soldiers. (He is entirely wrong for most of them fought as Greek guerrillas in German-occu- pied Greece during World War II, in Al- bania, in the Greek Army of the Middle East. against the Communists, and in Korea. mostly with great distinction.) (5) It is likely that those leaders involved in the April 1967 coup will be supplanted from the armed services. (If Mr Wood- house has had any contact with the calibre of present-day Greek Army Intelligence he would have come to the opposite conclusion. Anyway, the present government may de- cide to pass on their powers, and if this happens it will be because it is they who choose to do so. No doubt the Greek people will then prove to the outside world where their support lies.) I would urge Mr Woodhouse not to make the same mistake that so many others have made in connection with Greece, and that is to allow his vision to be impaired by the fact that he has links with Greece's 'past'. If Greece is to have any political future, much (but not all) of the 'past' cannot serve in it, and Mr Woodhouse would serve that country better if he assisted the present government in trying to ensure that there will be no need (as there may be in Turkey) for a further coup in the future.
I would have much preferred to read an article with an objective criticism of the pre- sent Greek government's record, indicating what he felt about its future direction. In- stead, Mr Woodhouse may find that he has only drawn attention to the calibre of some of his friends and leave people wondering how they could have allowed the coup to happen if they were so competent. Think how much easier it would have been for the Communists. Or do we always have to wait until they move in before we believe it could happen?
The Greek Communist party is one of the few to have supported the Russian in- vasion of Czechoslovakia. They have made four direct and indirect attempts to take over power in Greece in the space of twenty years. The Greek political system, and many of those connected with it, were becoming increasingly powerless or conniving with a possible Communist takeover. And the army was becoming seriously undermined by the promotion of politically incompetent left-wing officers to important ranks under a right-wing army social hierarchy which had fast become paralysed.
If this coup had not happened when it did the will of the people would have died and been laid to rest at the Communist altar for generations to come. (Now, at least, there is a chance.) NATO'S whole south- eastern flank would have gone overnight, and the whole political scene in the Medi- terranean area might well have undergone a radical change in less than five years.
Maurice Fraser Chairman, Maurice Fraser and Associates, 36/37 Furnival Street, EC4
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