The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.59/No.30           August 21, 1995 
 
 
25 And 50 Years Ago  

September 4, 1970

The press seems to be making a concerted effort to keep news about the war in Indochina to a minimum - and off the front pages.

But the fact nevertheless remains that this long and bloody war continues day after day. The genocide bombardment that already devastated large areas of South Vietnam has been escalated to Cambodia and Laos.

In the seven weeks preceding Aug. 21, 508 Americans were killed in combat, bringing the total figure for the war to 43,366.

Despite continual promises by Nixon and his cabinet to the contrary, the administration has given the go-ahead to U.S. bombing of all parts of Cambodia.

Besides increasing the U.S. bombing of Cambodia, the administration is shoring up the Pnompenh military clique of Gen. Lon Nol with new weapons and increased economic aid. On Aug. 20, Washington announced that it would provide "about $40-million worth of small arms, ammunition, jeeps, trucks, communication equipment and armored personnel carriers" to the five-month-old regime.

August 18, 1945
Government operation of government-owned plants which private corporations refuse to operate was demanded last week in Washington by representatives of leading CIO international unions, who called on federal agencies for drastic action to stem the disastrous tide of mass unemployment accompanying the imminent surrender of Japan.

The Associated Press reported that war material cutbacks amounting to $12-billion were under way. The War and Navy Departments officially announced immediate contract terminations of $4-billion, "the first of the expected flood," as the Times admitted.

"The ending of the war will deliver a staggering jolt to the industrial economy of the nation," the N.Y. Herald- Tribune confessed.

Government officials could no longer conceal the terrible fate now immediately in store for the American workers. "A high-ranking Office of War Mobilization and Reconversion official estimated that 8,000,000 persons inevitably would be jobless within the next six months," the United Press reported the day after the surrender offer.

 
 
 
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