Up (Some) Rebels
SIR,—I am disturbed at the strange complacency of Mr. Alfred Sherman's review of Writers and Politics by Dr. Conor Cruise O'Brien.
Mr. Sherman's allegation of 'left-wing double standards' is particularly inept this winter of all periods when we have had such a clear and con- tinuing exhibition of a right-wing double-think throughout the debate on Rhodesia.
We have seen some Tories pillory the Archbishop of Canterbury for not being a convenient Christian pacifist and then proceed to tear chunks of flesh off the Government for reducing the Territorials. Many who supported the Suez war against a non- aligned, Afro-Asian Socialist state lift up their hands in horror at the very idea of sending troops to back up the legitimate government in Rhodesia. Those who have not been noticeably loud in their protests at our military expenditure against another non-aligned Socialist state in the Indonesian con- frontation have been the first to warn us about the economic hazards of applying sanctions thoroughly against Ian Smith and his insurrectionary clique. Those- who have been quick to attack Ghana for imprisoning a few hundreds without trial have been deafeningly silent abut the prolonged detention of thousands in Rhodesia. They have been content to see us build up a large naval and military 'presence' in the Orient but are horrified at the faintest suggestion of a blockade of Beira. The same groups who have been eloquent in their pleas to come to the rescue of Malaysia when it called out in need have done all in their power to block or delay similar assistance to Zambia when it made similar requests the other day.
A quotation from O'Brien which Mr. Sherman did not give us runs: • Where the truth in question is uncomfortable. for the Soviet Union it is promulgated; where it is uncomfortable for the United States it is mitigated.
There is equally clear evidence for this. Those who have been vigilant about China's pressure on East Africa and Russia's association with Guinea have 'been indifferent to America's influence in the Dominican Republic. And so it goes on . . .
I am not just thinking of politicians. This is true of large numbers of writers, publicists and broad- casters in our society. Compare, for example, the way in which a Pan-African Congress or an OAU heads of state meeting is usually featured with the presentation of an American presidential election. Compare the time and attention given to Mr. Julian Amery with that given to the African representa- tives in this country of both ZAPU and ZANU. If Mr. Sherman were to peep furtively at a Daily Worker now and again he might see a leis myopic treatment.
I recommend Mr. Sherman to read again (i.e. if he really has already read them) Dr. O'Brien's re- views of George Steiner's Tolstoy or Dostoievsky and Mr. R. W. B. Lewis's The Picaresque Saint. Seldom has Dr. O'Brien's important and cogently argued corrective been more needed in these islands than right now. KENNETH MaCKENZIE Si. Colm's College, Edinburgh, 3
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