THE PEOPLE'S FORUM
THE PEOPLE'S FORUM Lens' View of Iran Dear Sirs: "A View of Iran" in your March issue must have been obtained by Sidney Lens through a pair of glasses tinted with ignorance, distortion, and...
...I applaud Mr...
...Those of us with any personal knowledge of British politics surely have enough to endure from the misrepresentation of British political life in most conventional organs of the American press...
...Navy, seven of which were spent in the Orient, and of seventeen years as a college professor, during which I have followed international relations closely, I feel qualified to express an opinion on the Vietnam situation...
...evaluation of the history of an American peace organization...
...THE PEOPLE'S FORUM Lens' View of Iran Dear Sirs: "A View of Iran" in your March issue must have been obtained by Sidney Lens through a pair of glasses tinted with ignorance, distortion, and distrust for a government combatting subversion in that strategically located country...
...Interested persons can apply at any one of the following TTP offices: Northwest TTP 4235 Roosevelt Way N.E...
...Prime Minister Harold Wilson never promised "a One Hundred Day miracle-cure" for Britain's economic malaise...
...He does not speculate beyond this point, but the course of future events can be predicted with virtual certainty...
...If you are looking for a meaningful way to become engaged in the most crucial problem of our time, eliminating war, apply for a TTP internship...
...It may be that the men who are responsible for these horrors can sleep well, knowing what . is happening to the helpless children and peasants of Vietnam...
...the land reform is a hoax, and not an honest plan designed to ensure the economic and social development of the country...
...Even if the Shah is deposed or permanently removed, an Iranian patriot (currently living in New Jersey, no doubt) will come forward to take over the government and will, reluctantly, turn to Washington for help...
...We are not defending "freedom" in Vietnam...
...The people want peace and rice, not "freedom...
...Lens has ever thought that the English speaking cab-driver is a secret agent...
...If you read the British Conservative press you will see that it would never use such onesided criticism of Mr...
...Name and address withheld at request] Dear Sirs: We were pleased and grateful to see the article, "A View of Iran," by Sidney Lens, that appeared in The Progressive of March, 1965...
...Thomas Amneus Los Angeles, California Dear Sirs: The big problem in Vietnam is not that Communist power is seeking to expand at the expense of peace-loving South Vietnamese, thus endangering political stability in all Southeast Asia...
...The liberated Iranians would then return to producing oil for the free world under the protection of the secret police...
...Each student will also engage in an intensive period of supervised field work in some area of sociai conflict of his choice...
...We do not expect the same confusion of ignorance and prejudice from your magazine...
...The only foreigners fighting in Vietnam are Americans...
...The State Department had long since decided to grant Professor Yasui's visa, and he had completed his scheduled lecture tour on world disarmament...
...Thomas G. Dill Middleboro, Massachusetts Dear Sirs: As a veteran of World Wars I and II, of thirty years active service in the U.S...
...Mrs...
...Barry's arguments are tendentious and far more prejudiced than those of reputable Conservative opponents of Mr...
...Peter S. Raible Chairman Northwest TTP Intern Program Seattle, Washington Dear Sirs: Wanted: fifteen young men and women willing to devote a year of their lives to study and work in training for creative roles in the cause of civil rights, world peace, and other areas of social conflict...
...Barry apparently has read nothing of Labor's transport policies over the past five years or he could not write about "dismissing the government's specialist in cutting waste on the nationally-owned railways...
...Arnold E. True Professor of Meteorology San Jose State College (Rear Admiral, U.S...
...Wilson for the postponement was the actual reason...
...We are now selecting students to participate in the Institute's first training program beginning September 20...
...John Hatch Texas Southern University Houston, Texas Mr...
...H. Lebaschi, President Iranian Student Association in the United States Berkeley, California Defends Harold Wilson Dear Sirs: I find it surprising that you, as a "progressive" magazine, should have published Joseph Barry's article, "Britain's Sea of Troubles," in your March issue...
...The calling of these witnesses obviously represents harassment of the peace movement and an attempt to obstruct the freer exchange of intellectuals called for by President Johnson...
...John F. Virden Bethesda, Maryland...
...Appointments are for one year, and applications are now open to begin the program after June 15...
...George Willoughby New York, New York Good Writing Dear Sirs: As a teacher of high school English, I find The Progressive most helpful not only with its illuminating articles but as an example of what good writing ought to be...
...He also uses a six-million dollar public relations program to mislead the people of the world outside the country, especially Americans...
...Everyone with the slightest acquaintance with British politics knows that all political measures ceased in the week before Winston Churchill's death...
...Inquiries should be addressed to Dr...
...Lens' article is a collection of tirades against the progressive Shah and his government, and a series of baseless allegations...
...Their present shortsighted view of the situation and their support and identification with the Shah have already alienated the people of Iran, for whose support, I believe, nearly two billion of the American taxpayers' money has been thrown down the drain since 1953...
...Dagmar Wilson and Mrs...
...From his conversation with the imaginary occupant of the taxi up to his last prophecy about Iran, Mr...
...Conventional napalm will suffice...
...Barry is factually inaccurate...
...The Committee had refused to hold open hearings where the witnesses would have been protected by the presence of public and press against distortion of their testimony...
...John Chappell Lawrence, Kansas Dear Sirs: President Johnson is quoted as saying, "Our one desire is that the people of Southeast Asia be left in peace to work out their destinies in their own way...
...We are trying to stop the awakening of Asia...
...Navy, Retired) La Honda, California Defense Against HUAC Dear Sirs: Your readers may be interested to know that a national Committee called Defenders of 3 Against HUAC is being formed in response to the contempt citations issued on request of the House Un-American Activities Committee against Mrs...
...Donna Allen, both of Women Strike for Peace, and managing editor Russell Nixon of the National Guardian...
...The Viet Cong are getting more arms from the United States than from North Vietnam...
...President Johnson says that he hopes to establish peace in the world...
...I am certain millions of Iranians, if they were to read your article, would feel the sense of gratitude I feel toward your magazine...
...Under this circumstance, Lens' courageous and honest presentation fulfills the true duty of a free press, and is indeed admired and appreciated...
...No foreign correspondent, except Mr...
...Lens all attempts at progress and reform are figments of someone's imagination, rather than genuine efforts of the Shah and his government to better the lot of the people...
...Wilson's efforts to rescue the country from its thirteen years of stagnation under Conservative rule, ending in the bequest to Labor of a desperate economic crisis...
...It was known that European Free Trade Association members would dislike it...
...Prerequisites for admission: a serious interest in solving social conflicts and a college degree, or equivalent in education and experience...
...This same effort expended on amending the charter and strengthening the United Nations as a peace-keeping agency might result in world peace...
...A. M. Shapurian Press Counselor Iranian Embassy Washington, D. C. Dear Sirs: Sidney Lens ends his article, "A View of Iran," with the suggestion that revolutionary leadership will be forthcoming for the Iranian people...
...Wilson in Britain...
...Thein Wah San Antonio, Texas Dear Sirs: As an Iranian who has been repeatedly sickened by articles written about my country in the U.S...
...Seattle, Washington 98105 Mid-West TTP 19 South LaSalle, Room 531 Chicago, Illinois 60603 National TTP 218 East 18th Street New York, N. Y. 10003 Northern California TTP 1730 Grove Street Berkeley, California 94709 New England TTP 144 A Mt...
...Miriam Levin Secretary Defenders Committee Washington, D. C. Opportunities for Service Dear Sirs: Attention college graduates: Turn Toward Peace offers a challenging program of work and study—the TIT Intern program...
...Barry—that the reason given by Mr...
...Lens' judgment about the eventual overthrow of the Shah's dictatorial regime...
...The Defenders Committee's sponsors include such distinguished persons as historian Henry Steele Commager, professor of psychiatry Jerome D. Frank, and the Reverend Robert Zoerheide, president of the Unitarian-Universalist Fellowship for Social Justice...
...The gibe about the postponed visit to Bonn is beneath contempt...
...I am now disappointed and deeply alarmed...
...Applicants are directed to granting agencies for scholarship funds if they are accepted in the program...
...To Mr...
...Lens has written about Iran is only slander and pre-con-ceived vilification...
...Lens, author of The Futile Crusade—Anti-Communism as American Credo, whose outbursts against things decent in Iran have appeared in Peace News of London and The Progressive, the Shah of Iran is another Trujillo, and not the wise, benevolent, and democratic sovereign that the rest of the world knows him to be...
...The American press and the Shah's advertising machinery suspiciously seem to cooperate to a great extent...
...How wonderful it would be if President Johnson should match his words with deeds...
...The horrors being committed in Southeast Asia in the name of freedom are among the most atrocious in history...
...preparation of an original paper in some area of policy formulation...
...One wonders whether napalm bombs, which have been so useful in penetrating caves and trenches, were used...
...development of competence in three areas of work...
...The import charge was imposed as a temporary measure to reduce the trade gap...
...The three defendants had refused to testify in secret hearings about their call upon the State Department more than a year ago to urge approval of a visit to the United States by Japanese peace leader K. Hasui, the distinguished Law Dean of Hosei University...
...Students participating in this new experimental program will study the forces of social change and conflict with reference to the history and experience of the civil rights movement, urban development, the peace movement, and other areas of current social protest...
...Similar killings must occur whenever our bombers level a village...
...I recommend that all thinking Americans write to Washington and urge some kind of face-saving withdrawal from Vietnam...
...Those who would like to join in the defense are invited to send contributions to the Defenders of 3 Against HUAC, at 2016 P Street, N.W., Suite 32, Washington, D. C. 20036...
...Lens believes that the American press does not reflect the true situation in Iran and that correspondents of foreign newspapers take their orders from the Iranian government...
...That might come later...
...press, I would like to thank you for Sidney Lens' honest reporting on the present situation in Iran...
...I cannot...
...The myth that "saving" Vietnam from Communism is a strategic necessity for our security is just that—a myth...
...None except Mr...
...He is currently on leave.—-The Editors...
...Labor has consistently argued that nothing short of a national transport system coordinating all methods of transport is genuinely economic...
...We are supporting a series of dictatorships that are unpopular with the people...
...Each year a large number of foreign correspondents, photographers, cameramen, writers, and authors visit Iran...
...Bombing school children in either North or South Vietnam does not establish the United States in the eyes of the world as a "peaceful" nation...
...Lens, knew about the "mass grave" wherein "ambulance after ambulance" discharged thousands of dead bodies...
...It is that the United States is not looking after its own best interests by waging a costly war halfway around the world on behalf of a halfhearted ally, while loosening its defensive posture close to home...
...No one except Mr...
...I was one of the record number of voters who rejected a reckless foreign policy last November...
...Study includes a rigorous seventeen-session seminar...
...It is not, and never has been, the practice for British governments to consult the Opposition about economic and financial policies, nor would an Opposition agree to such consultation...
...But governments do not abandon national interests in order to be loved...
...Wilson's subsequent Bonn visit proves—if proof is needed by anyone but Mr...
...The government and the people of Iran welcome criticism of a constructive nature, because without criticism there will be no progress, but what Mr...
...To Mr...
...Barry suggests that the import surcharge has damaged the good will of those trading partners on which exports depend...
...Critics may not agree with the policy, but everyone in British politics knows that Labor has always condemned short-sighted economy measures on the railways which only add to the wasteful congestion on the roads...
...The American press seemingly has a deliberate tendency to convey the news and views of the world in a fashion which confirms American Administration policy, and which oftentimes does not necessarily follow reality...
...Sizable expenses are being incurred in legal fees and in raising a public protest against HUAC's treatment of these witnesses...
...analysis of social change techniques...
...The Irancong won't have a chance, as there is not enough forest land in Iran to hide any kind of Cong...
...That is impossible...
...Every measure taken by Mr...
...And so one could go on throughout the article, which really brings little credit to your magazine as a balanced commentator on the affairs of other countries...
...Barry cannot have it both ways...
...John Thomas, Director of Studies, The Upland Institute, Upland Avenue, Chester, Pennsylvania...
...He has regularly stated that plans to revitalize the British economy would necessitate measures which would take time to produce results—and in the meantime things might well get worse before they could improve...
...experience working in a community...
...Wilson's government has been planned as a part of a long-term strategy to restore and stimulate British economic life...
...Since wiping out entire villages suspected of containing a few Viet-cong is now standard practice in Vietnam, it appears that the only mistake consisted in letting the facts out...
...Vietnam Dear Sirs: The killing of thirty Vietnamese schoolchildren by U.S.-made fighter-bombers is called a "mistake...
...Criticize them—yes, by all means—but, please, with some knowledge of British political realities and on rational rather than emotional grounds...
...Ever responsive to the call of friendly governments wherever freedom is threatened, the United States will move in to counter Communist aggression...
...policy toward Iran and the Shah's despotic and brutal regime...
...Work assignments include: administration of a volunter office...
...There will not even be a national debate whether or not to use nuclear weapons...
...Lens called the Shah's revolution a "hollow" one...
...Hatch is a correspondent for the British publication, New Statesman...
...Anyway, it is worth trying and would be a constructive effort...
...Our Shah is using a 200,000 well-paid army and some 20,000 secret police to secure his position inside the country...
...To help meet this urgent need for leadership trained to understand and to deal with forces for social change in nonviolent ways, a group of concerned people have established the Upland Institute in Chester, Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia...
...the trade unions are not legally established but a fraud, and the Army, a tool of suppression and tyranny rather than an instrument of peace and security...
...It is possible that it may precipitate World War III and end civilization...
...After complaining that Wilson's measures were unrelated to the balance of payments crisis, Mr...
...Then again, Mr...
...Lens, exaggerated the number of persons killed during the June, 1963, riots, and no other reporter in the world, except Mr...
...Auburn Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 The TTP Intern program demands a high degree of commitment to the development of a relevant American peace effort, community based...
...On the contrary, our present policy is driving Vietnam farther into the arms of Red China and may heal the breach between China and Russia...
...Aside from his ignorance of British politics, Mr...
...I wish that the facts mentioned in his article were taken into account by those responsible for shaping U.S...
...To protect those members of my family who reside in Iran or will be going back during the reign of the Shah, please refrain from mentioning my name or address...
Vol. 29 • May 1965 • No. 5
