CHAPTER FOUR REACTIONS My razor and I, even the cat Sputnik is pretty exited about mail and telephone calls as of late. A number of people have been ringing from around the world expressing there interest to my situation mentioned in Chapter 2. I told my razor that we had better not get too exited about this stuff because even if people like McNamara have come out of the closet after all these years. There are a hell of a lot more people who demonstrated against the war in Vietnam who have jumped into the closet! Quite a number of newspapers have been ringing and saying that they will publish the letter. I have been getting signals in different ways about different people reacting to the letter sent out. For example there are a number of people calling up offering legal advice. That means that they want to investigate the legal aspects of my case. My answer to them is short and to the point. "I am not a criminal." "I don't need a lawyer." The criminals, if there are any, were the people who started and carried on the war not me. Another interesting reaction is some people called me up saying that theywere in contact with the Washington cocktail party, kissing ass, jet set liberal democrats There advice was to wait until after the elections in 1996, Clinton would have nothing to lose after that! My answer to these people was and is that the question of an amnesty or pardon for my activities during the war in Vietnam has nothing to do with tactics for liberal democrats wanting to get reelected. A third reaction was, Bob don't do this and don't come back they will nail your ass to the wall. I told my razor that this at least was an honest reaction... Here are some more reactions received by mail..... Stockholm To Robert Malecki Hi! I have read your letter and I am thinking about taking it to the Fourth Internationals executive committees meeting being held in the first week of December and spread it among the delegates. At this meeting our sister parties in Europe and representatives of organisations like Socialist Action and Solidarity from the United States will be taking part. Perhaps you can also contact the newspapers Arbetaren and Norrskensflamman and tell them about your history. With Socialist Greetings Dick Forslund International secretaryin the Socialist Party. Hanoi, Vietnam Hi Bob, Greetings and Happy New Year from us in Hanoi. We have been in Vietnam since the 17th of December. Here in Hanoi until the 15th of January. Having a great time. Been thinking a lot about your letter and ways of trying to get a pardon. Were you tried as a common criminal or on a political charge? Let us know. Hugs and Kisses Dotti and Bien, Giao, Vien and xuan Stockholm Hello, Robert, My name is Simon Grundin and I am working as a trainee at the office of the Christian Peace Movement. I saw your letter when I opened the mail and looked through it. I took a copy of it and took some time to read it in full. There are not many things that catches my eye, but your letter captivated me. The last hero isn't dead yet. I don't know what's going to happen to your letter or what the Christian Peace Movement can do, but I think it will take some time. Such things usually do. Have you tried sending your letter to: "Svenska Freds" if you have not do! I don't know what I can do, however: I would like your "OK" for using the letter in anyway I can (I surpose its allright. I just want it official, so that I don't "go behind the back" of the organisation that I work for). The most I feel I can do at this time is to rewrite the letter (giving you an alias) and show it to my friends. However, I might think of something or somebody else might. Please drop me a "letter of authorisation" and keep me up to date with your progress! PS The war isn't over DS Best Wishes Simon CHRISTIAN PEACE CONFERENCE United Nations Office 777United NationsPlaza New York, N.Y. 10017-3521 Dr. Philip Oke United Nations Representative (516) 223-1880 Dear Robert, The Prague office of our organisation sent me a copy of your circular letter asking that I look into your case. We are considering the possibilities of raising your case as a HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE in the appropriate United Nations body. We feel that what the outcome, raising the matter in the United Nations would exert some positive pressure on the US government. Can you help us by providing the exact venues, dates and details pertaining to your case? If you have any documents relating to the case, that would also be most helpful. As you know, the US presents itself as a champion of human rights and uses this issue to justify its aggressions against other countries. Cuba is only the most recent example. Your case illustrates the hypocrisy of their public posture. We are therefore most interested in raising it in the United Nations. With All Good Wishes Philip Oke Hi, In 1966 I was arrested with some other Columbia students at a sit-in demonstration at the New York Offices of Dow Chemical. That same year I was arrested again for trashing the main office of the Selective Service (the draftboard on 42nd street. So you see, we have something in common although my anti-war activities were more modest than yours. Regards, Obs! I better let this letter stay unsigned. You never know what it might lead too.. Hmmmm....( rn 3077 MALECKI Max Watts Dear Robert Michael, from the Sydney Peace Squadron, sent me (perhaps copy of) your letter. I shall make some more copies and send them on to my friends. Herewith a quick - not very organised - note directly to you, right away. Thoughts thought while reading your letter. If I put that letter into the "to be answered when enough time" file it may stay there for a while! Of course "we" were able WERE ABLE to stop the war. Just a matter of how WE define "we". Me, when asked who "we" are, I say: me and them on-side. On our side. That of course includes you, the Vietnamese fighting for their country, the GI,s resisting inside the army, the 2 Berrigans (just to name people whose name became known...) and millions of others. So we altogether did stop the war, when the Vietnamese rolled into Saigon, in April/May 1975. Not only did we stop it, we won it. I insist on this point, not in order to criticise your formulation, but because "they" , the people on the other side - of whatever nationality - that's often secondary - who wanted the war to continue, the ruling class(es), the RIGHT, they always insist: "You (Lefties) , you haven't got a chance. You can't fight city hall". And that is utter bull-shit. Let's put it simply: We, the Left, do almost always win our fights, our battles, although sometimes it does take a long while. Remember the best-known American song: John Browns body was called a fanatic, a murderer, a lunatic. An Abolitionist (worse then a Communist). But the Abolitionists won. No one today will defend Southern chattel slavery... Or denying votes to women, or jailing people for joining a union (that used to be a reason for "transporting" jailed English workers to Australia).. Or deporting people from Australia - for criticising Hitler (as they tried with Egon Erwin Kisch in 1934.) And so on. Incidentally, the Sydney Peace Squadron (and other allies) have won the battle to keep nuclear armed or powered ships out of Sydney, they ain,t coming here no more! Vietnam, we must always remember, was is, one of our most spectacular victories. They, the ruling class and its servants, for instance the LBJs. the Nixons, lose. But they try and make us forget our victories. Your opinion appreciated. We (including myself) checked out the situation in Sweden in June 1967, well before Nixon... and realised that Sweden would - if suitably pushed - give asylum to anti-war (rita,resisters inside the army) GIs. Until the Swedish government was pushed, it preferred the "quiet option" "You can stay, but no publicity". As "we" (in this case a group of "Fritas" (friends of ritas) desperately needed to find and publicise other countries (France was open legally after May 67, but there was a problem of simple financial and or economic support, Canada was still rather dubious then...) where anti-war soldiers could go...it was an enormous victory when the Intrepid Sailors forced Olaf Palme to come out openly for these GIs in November 67. And into letting you stay there, too! All honour to him, the (exceptional) honest Social-Democrat! Enclosing the English version of "From Desertion to RITA", which might interest you, the complete (German) book is available from Harald Kater Verlag Goerlitzer Str. 37. Berlin 36 Publisher Dieter Bruenn will certainly send you a free copy, if you can use and ask him.. Herewith a couple of addresses, which might be of use to you: Bill S. and Bob R. were lawyers with LMDC, Lawyers Military Defence Committee in Heidelberg, and both are still in practice, and have defended GIs, anti-war resisters, etc. (also during Gulf War) Just in case! Yes, that particular Vietnam war is over. But ...although we sometimes do get tired, not the class wars! I,ll also enclose some ""Bougainville"", about Australia's own little - quite on-going Vietnam! Incidentally, is Stockholm lawyer Egon (I think) Frank, used to be on Kings. 34?) still around, known to you? If so, give him my best! Yours in Solidarity Max The correspondence between Max and the author will continue futher on in the book My razor insists on that! My cat Sputnik does,t give a shit, he just wants to fuck some more girlcats in the neighbourhood!!! My razor nor I accept any responsibility for the letters in this chapter. We feel that the people who wrote can do that by themselves! Besides that my razor and I had an argument about putting this stuff into to the book. My razors argument was that if you can devote the whole next chapter to Atomic Bomb Drills and Pavlov centuries before my razor came on to the scene, then this stuff should go in. I acceded to my razors demand....