Who is to Blame for the War Drive?

[p006] - WHO Is TO BLAME FOR. THE WAR DRIVE 2 ‘ The sole reference in the National Executive statement to the causes of the extreme tension in international re- ~ Jations is the following: ‘‘Since 1945 the hope of peace- ful partnership. between nations, which would make dis- armament possible, has been frustrated mainly by the Soviet Union’ S unco-operative policy.” The fault is Moscow’s they say. And if only the Kremlin leaders can. be brought round to a more co-operative attitude (perhaps by building up and displaying more armed forces?), then all can be set right. Mildly, but unmistakably, the authors line up with the “‘Condemn Russia” school of Western politicians whose text-books are written in Washington. _- We are'not disposed to serve as defenders of the foreign — or the domestic policies of Stalin’s regime, which in our opinion do more harm than good to the interests of world Jabour and the Socialist movement, and repel instead of attract support for the Soviet Union from its natural allies within the international working class. But anyone who is not hypnotized by pro-imperiatist propaganda and _ certainly anyone who tries to understand world develop- ments in the light of Marxism has to reject the proposition that the Soviet Union is responsible for the drive toward ~ War. :

[p007] The authors of the N-E.C. document place the guilt on the wrong party. They should direct their accusations not toward Moscow, but toward Washington and Wall Street. The driving force behind the arms programme and the war drive is across the Atlantic, because there is the last stronghold of the capitalist system and the head- © quarters of world imperialism.