SIR, — Concerning Philip Williams's review of my book A Scattering of
Dust: He claims I do an injustice to 'the devoted French civilians and soldiers who have served in Algeria and . . the few local European liberals who have really tried to bridge the gulf between the races.'
Mr. Williams, as a man excellently informed on French and I suppose Algerian politics, could hardly fail to know that liberal efforts to introduce justice into French administration of Algeria both before and during the war theft were effectively squashed, both by the indifference of the French nation and the positive interference of the above-mentioned civilians and soldiers. I wrote about the Algerian war after the fact of this liberal failure, describing its result in what I agree is revolting detail.
Mr. Williams also claims I am amazingly naïve in my account of the S6tif massacre, though he does not dispute my facts. If by naïve he means that I have failed to introduced some nuance or qualifi- cation that will somehow excuse that abominable slaughter of thousands upon thousands of innocent people, then I find his comment incredibly naïve, hypocritical and positively disgusting.
I don't agree that my references to FLN atrocities are apologetic. Where I mention them 1 give as much revolting detail as I do to French atrocities and I disavow any apology for them.
As for the state of mind of the ALN leaders who have 'come round to seeking negotiation and future co-operation with France,' 1 might point out that this is exactly what these leaders have been seeking since the beginning of the rebellion, with the condition of Algerian independence. It is the French who have been forced round, not by liberals or ideals, but by the horrible cost of the Algerian war, to accepting this condition. I find Mr. Williams's failure to see these obvious facts, which any reader could have gleaned from the newspapers, aston- ishingly, not to say thunderingly naive.
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