Air University Review, January-February 1983
AS A CLOSE neighbor to Poland, I read "The Restoration of Control in Poland" with more than ordinary interest.* The article is an excellent contribution to the understanding of the present Polish situation. The closing remarks, however, seem to be especially pertinent, not only to conditions in my unfortunate neighboring country but also to the present stage of the evolution of human conflict in general.
*Major John Hasek, The Royal Canadian Regiment, "The Restoration of Control in Poland," Air University Review, July-August 1982, pp. 68-71.
Our era is one of psychological warfare by means of subversion and extremist-terrorism against populations not yet subject to Soviet control; but mostly by means of absolute control of news media and police-terrorism against populations that have given in to the crusade of Soviet imperialism.
In this struggle, the Roman Catholic Church and many other religious and spiritual movements and organizations may well play a role of decisive importance. As Major Hasek puts it:
"The long-term struggle in Poland is not for democracy or for freer trade unions; it is between the Roman Catholic Church and the secular church of Russian communism, and ultimately it is for the survival of the Poles as a nation." (p. 71) Not only the Poles, I might add. It is no coincidence that in Russia religious people and religious organizations outside KGB control are persecuted and repressed with a fury out of all proportion to their apparent political importance. This significant fact is amply documented but is generally overlooked by the Western public and media.1 This neglect is probably due to the fact that the great majority of the Western public is epistemologically founded in the same coarse materialism that is the basis of Soviet communism.
To my mind there is no doubt that the struggle first and foremost is a spiritual one. This is one of the reasons why psychological warfare has such a decisive importance; another obvious reason being the development of new means of communication. The main objectives of the armed forces are to ensure that the struggle remains at the spiritual/psychological level and to deny the Soviets the opportunity to draw political advantages from their vast military potential.
One practical consequence of this is that governments in the free world should do all they possibly can to give support to the religious groups working in Communist territory--protest when arrests are made and direct financial aid whenever it is desirable and politically possible. Needless to say, this must be done with due consideration of the fact that the KGB-controlled official Soviet church has a very large influence in such international organizations as the World Council of Churches.
In a defensive situation, one should keep the enemy busy with something else!
Aalborg, Denmark
Note
1. See, for example, Thomas and Bianca Adler, Live Not by Lies (Beersheba, Israel).
Contributor
P. H. Bering is Chairman of the Danish Institute for Critical Peace Research, Aalborg, Denmark.
Disclaimer
The conclusions and opinions expressed in this document are those of the author cultivated in the freedom of expression, academic environment of Air University. They do not reflect the official position of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, the United States Air Force or the Air University.
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